Men's Tennis 4/28/2017 1:33:00 PM

Men's tennis cleans up at NAC West Individual Tournament

CLARKS SUMMIT, PA - Fresh off the thrill of winning the team tournament yesterday, the Penn State Berks men's tennis team continued its magnificent play with two doubles and four singles champions and one singles runner-up in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) West Division Individual Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Birchwood Tennis Club. (Results)

In addition to placing 10 members on all-conference teams, the Nittany Lions took home some hardware in the individual honors. Diego Olazagasti was voted NAC West Co-Rookie of the Year and Scott Yarnell was selected the Coach of the Year, as voted on by his peers. Yarnell, who has been named Coach of the Year seven times on the women's side, has earned the honor for the first time in his career as the men's coach.

The doubles tandem of Will Byler and Ryan Fritz won 8-4 in the semifinal round against Penn College and followed that up with an 8-5 victory against Penn State Abington's top team to win the No. 1 doubles tournament. Olazagasti and Nick Volk maintained their perfect run through the conference with after pulling out an 8-6 triumph against J.T. Kling and Alex Dunetz of Abington to win the No. 3 doubles tournament. All four of those Berks winners were awarded All-NAC West First Team honors.

The No. 2 pair of Mostafa Rahmy and Grant Batzer prevailed 8-6 in the semifinal round, but were topped 8-2 by Tarik Dashields and Prerak Patel in the title game. As a result, Rahmy and Batzer earned All-NAC Second Team honors.

In singles action, Fritz gutted out an amazing performance in the No. 2 title match to win the No. 2 tournament. The senior was a 6-1, 6-4 winner in the semi's against Jared Steiner of Lancaster Bible College. He then faced Sean Kimball, who defeated Fritz 6-1, 6-1 the day before, in the final round. Kimball took the first set 6-3, but Fritz evened it up with a 6-2 win in set two. In the tie-breaker, the two went back-and-forth with Fritz finally coming out on top 14-12. This marks the second time in his career that Fritz earned All-NAC First Team honors in singles competition.

Olazagasti was a 6-0, 6-0 winner in the semifinal round and then became the No. 3 singles champion with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the title game. He has now won 10 consecutive singles bouts and improves to 6-0 against NAC opponents. Rahmy won the No. 4 singles tournaments, beginning with a 6-1, 6-0 win in the semi's and a 6-1, 6-2 victory in title game against Patel from Abington. Volk rounded out the singles champions for Berks by taking the No. 6 tournament. He won 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinal round and then 6-2, 6-1 in the title match. All three earned All-NAC First Team recognition with their tournament victories.

Byler claimed a 6-1, 6-2 win in the semifinal round, but was topped 6-2, 6-4 by Michael Litz from Penn State Abington to finish runner-up and earn All-NAC Second Team honors. Litz was awarded the NAC West Player of the Year honors with his victory at the No. 1 singles tournament.

The Nittany Lions will look to earn its first trip to the NCAA Tournament when they travel to New York to play the NAC East Champion on Sunday, May 7 at 11 a.m.

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Players Mentioned

Grant Batzer: 5' 8"; Junior

Will Byler: 5' 11"; Junior

Ryan Fritz: 5' 10"; Senior

Nick Volk: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Mostafa Rahmy: 6' 3"; Freshman

Diego Olazagasti: 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Grant Batzer
: 5' 8"; Junior

Will Byler
: 5' 11"; Junior

Ryan Fritz
: 5' 10"; Senior

Nick Volk
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Mostafa Rahmy
: 6' 3"; Freshman

Diego Olazagasti
: 5' 8"; Freshman