Ichabods' Rutger Vliegenberg named MIAA's Most Valuable Player, sweep doubles first team honors, Hanson named Freshman of the Year
April 25, 2006

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Conference champion Washburn University swept the first-team doubles selections and had two singles players earn the same on the All-MIAA Men's Tennis squad as voted by the league's coaches.

All three doubles tandems for the Ichabods (16-5, 3-1 MIAA) -- sophomores Rutger Vliegenberg and Andrew Plum at No. 1, sophomores Nathan Martin and Brad Johnston at No. 2 along with seniors Tyler Kinder and Blake Edwards at No. 3 -- were unanimous selections to the first team.

Martin (No. 2), Kinder (No. 5) and Johnston (No. 6) also earned second-team singles recognition, while Plum (No. 3) grabbed honorable mention.

Vliegenberg, who won a pair of three-set battles at the MIAA Tournament last weekend to help WU win its first men's tennis title, also earned first-team honors at No. 1 singles and Most Valuable Player recognition as well.

Freshman Drew Hanson was a unanimous selection at No. 4 singles and picked up the conference Freshman of the Year award. He and senior Zach Keith of Northwest Missouri State (11-9, 3-1 MIAA) at No. 6 were the only unanimous selections in singles.

Keith was joined by a pair of teammates on the first team in junior Chris Smith at No. 3 and sophomore Lucas Ariboni at No. 5. Ariboni and Keith were second-team at No. 3 doubles, while sophomore Henrique Tomaz earned second-team at No. 2 singles.

Meanwhile, Northwest Missouri State coach Mark Rosewell was voted by his peers as Coach of the Year.

Senior Peter Joos of Southwest Baptist (6-15, 3-1 MIAA) at No. 2 singles rounded out the first team. He and sophomore doubles partner Daniel Prerad were second team at No. 1 doubles, while Prerad also was second team at No. 1 singles and earned the Sportsmanship Award.

SBU freshmen Emilio El Alabi and Agustin Mollar were second-team at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively.

The duo of seniors Brad Martin and Sean Cooper from Truman (10-7, 1-3 MIAA) were second-team selections in No. 2 doubles for the Bulldogs.

2006 All-MIAA Men's Tennis Team

First Team Fl. Yr. Hometown
*Rutger Vliegenberg, WU 1S/1D So. Mierlo, The Netherlands
Peter Joos, SBU 2S Sr. Budapest, Hungary
Chris Smith, NWMSU 3S Jr. Johannesburg, So. Africa
+Drew Hanson, WU 4S Fr. Topeka, Kan.
Lucas Ariboni, NWMSU 5S So. Sao Paulo, Brazil
+Zach Keith, NWMSU 6S Sr. Chillicothe, Mo.
*Andrew Plum, WU 1D So. Dallas, Texas
*Nathan Martin, WU 2D So. Salina, Kan.
*Brad Johnston, WU 2D So. Topeka, Kan.
*Tyler Kinder, WU 3D Sr. Topeka, Kan.
*Blake Edwards, WU 3D Sr. Columbia, Mo.

+=Unanimous selection in singles
*=Unanimous selection in doubles

Second Team
(Two selected at No. 2 singles due to tie in voting)
Daniel Prerad, SBU 1S/1D So. Perth, Australia
Nathan Martin, WU 2S So. Salina, Kan.
Henrique Tomaz, NWMSU 2S So. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Emilio El Alabi, SBU 3S Fr. Bahia Blanca, Argentina
Agustin Mollar, SBU 4S Fr. Tucamen, Argentina
Tyler Kinder, WU 5S Sr. Topeka, Kan.
Brad Johnston, WU 6S So. Topeka, Kan.
Peter Joos, SBU 1D Sr. Budapest, Hungary
Brad Martin, TSU 2D Sr. Leawood, Kan.
Sean Cooper, TSU 2D Sr. Springfield, Mo.
Lucas Ariboni, NWMSU 3D So. Sao Paulo, Brazil
Zach Keith, NWMSU 3D Sr. Chillicothe, Mo.

Honorable Mention
Pablo Acebedo, NWMSU 1S/1D Jr. Barcelona, Spain
Brad Martin, TSU 2S Sr. Leawood, Kan.
Kevin Arnhold, ESU 3S Jr. Hutchinson, Kan.
Andrew Plum, WU 3S So. Dallas, Texas
Daniel Isieto, NWMSU 4S Fr. Barcelona, Spain
Devin Williams, TSU 4S/3D Fr. St. Joseph, Mo.
Brian Bajema, SBU 5S So. St. Louis, Mo.
Ross Hougland, ESU 6S Fr. Olathe, Kan.
Chris Smith, NWMSU 1D Jr. Johannesburg, So. Africa
Emilio El Alabi, SBU 2D Fr. Bahia Blanca, Argentina
Agustin Mollar, SBU 2D Fr. Tucamen, Argentina
Jake Saulsbury, NWMSU 2D So. Lexington, Neb.
Mark Marifian, TSU 3D Fr. Belleville, Ill.

Most Valuable Player: Rutger Vliegenberg, WU
Freshman of the Year: Drew Hanson, WU
Sportsmanship Award: Daniel Prerad, SBU
Coach of the Year: Mark Rosewell, NWMSU