Lakeland College

Glass Named Rookie of the Year, Wins No. 1 Singles Crown at NAC Tourney

Athletics - posted on 4/30/2007

The Lakeland men's tennis team took fifth place with 23 points out of seven teams participating at this past weekend's Northern Athletics Conference Tournament. However, the Muskies (3-9, 2-4 NAC) did have a few high points in the tournament, with the biggest one coming in the No. 1 singles match as freshman Andre Glass defeated Ira Meiling of Concordia, Wis., 6-4, 6-1, to win the title.

Glass, who was named the NAC Rookie of the Year, handed Meiling, the NAC Player of the Year, the first loss of his career to win the championship crown.

"I'm so excited for him," said head coach Ben Oestreich. "Andre is a winner and has been on a great streak this season. I was pretty confident he had all the tools to get past Ira. Andre just started to take control and gradually did less reacting to what Ira was doing and started dictating the points a little more. Once he got to the second set, he looked like the better player and was pretty dominant. He had an answer for everything Ira did."

Glass also teamed up with sophomore Matt Rutlin to make a run at the No. 1 doubles title, falling in the championship match to Meiling and Aaron Hoeppner, 8-3, to take second place.

Rutlin also competed in the No. 2 singles match, finishing third.

"Andre has proven that he is the best player in the conference," Oestreich said. "Since he is also a freshman, there is no doubt in my mind that he was the only choice for Rookie of the Year, similar to last year when Matt Rutlin won it."

Glass closes out the season with a 10-3 record in singles play, winning the last eight matches of the season, and finished with a 7-4 record along with Rutlin in No. 1 doubles.

"Hopefully his success will motivate everyone to work hard in the off-season and come back next year focused and ready to go," Oestreich said. "Now we have the proof that it's possible to compete at a higher level in our conference."

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