Janes, Franch lead 2022 UMAC men's tennis awards
ST. PAUL, Minn.---After winning the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) men's tennis regular season championship for the first time in program history, the University of Wisconsin-Superior topped the postseason awards list taking two of the top three honors, it was announced Wednesday.
The Yellowjackets' Michael Janes was tabbed as the UMAC Player of the Year, while CeeJay Schaffner was selected as Coach of the Year by his peers for the first time. Carlos Franch of Bethany Lutheran College becomes the first individual to ever earn the UMAC Men's Tennis Rookie of the Year award.
Janes led all UMAC No. 1 singles players this season with a 7-1 record with his one loss coming against Stewart Morrell of runner-up University of Northwestern in a third-set tiebreaker in the first of three meetings between the two teams in less than two weeks to conclude the season. The junior helped the Yellowjackets go 8-0 with his strong singles play and adding six wins in UMAC No. 2 doubles. Janes won the UMAC Player of the Week award four times in 2022 and becomes the first Yellowjacket player to ever be named Player of the Year.
A season of firsts for the Yellowjackets also led to a first-ever Coach of the Year nod for Schaffner and the program. Under his leadership, the Yellowjackets boast a 16-5 overall recorded heading into their first-ever NCAA Championship tournament Thursday. Schaffner's squad won three UMAC matches without dropping a set and also battled hard for a pair of 5-4 regular season victories against Bethany Lutheran and Northwestern.
Bethany Lutheran also put together one of its best seasons in recent history finishing third in the standings witha 4-4 record. However, the Vikings' were just one point away from wins against the Yellowjackets once and twice versus Northwestern. The Vikings' success was due in large part to rookie Franch who was 4-3 at No. 1 singles this season with two of those losses coming to Janes. The first-year also was impressive with an unblemished UMAC doubles record of 7-0 at the No. 1 spot.
Bethany Lutheran, Northwestern and Wisconsin-Superior led the All-UMAC First Team with two honorees each while the runner-up Eagles topped the all-conference list with six overall selections. This is the first season in which the all-conference list has First Team, Second Team and Honorable Mention designations. Janes leads a list of seven total players who have been named all-conference twice in their careers, and it also includes Marcos Borobia Arias (Bethany Lutheran), Paul Decker (University of Minnesota Morris), Andre Luiz de Melo Guedes (Wisconsin-Superior), Stewart Morrell (Northwestern), Gergo Potz-Nagy (Wisconsin-Superior) and Adam Ryerse (Northwestern).
Minnesota Morris was named the Team Sportsmanship winner on the men's side, which is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year –
Michael Janes, Jr., Wisconsin-Superior
Rookie of the Year – Carlos Franch, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year – CeeJay Schaffner, Wisconsin-Superior
First-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
Hometown/High School |
| Marcus Borobia Arias |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Zaragoza, Spain/Colegio Juan de Canoza |
| Carlos Franch |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
|
| Michael Janes |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Bismark, N.D./Legacy |
| Andre Luiz de Melo Guedes |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Brasilia, Brazil/Centro de Ensino Médio Paulo Freire |
| Stewart Morell |
So. |
Northwestern |
Elk River, Minn./Homeschool |
| Jacob Weddle |
Fy. |
Northwestern |
Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander |
Second Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
Hometown/High School |
| Heitor Damaso |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
|
| Paul Decker |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral |
| Jace Gilbertson |
Fy. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Menomonie, Wis./Menomonie |
| Gergo Potz-Nagy |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Budapest, Hungary/Veres Pálné Secondary Grammar School |
| Adam Ryerse |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge |
| Keisuke Sato |
Fy. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fukushima, Japan/Fukushima |
Honorable Mention UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
Hometown/High School |
| Jack Geurkink |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Hudson, Wis./Hudson |
| Tyrus Studer |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Rapid City, S.D./Stevens |
| Isaac Velgersdyk |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Savage, Minn./Southwest Minnesota Christian |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award - Minnesota Morris
Bethany Lutheran – Ben Foss, So., St. James, Minn./St. James
Martin Luther – Josiah Wordell, So., Mequon, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran
Minnesota Morris – Kenny Knudson, Sr., Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti
Northwestern – Joel Fremling, Jr., Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin
Wisconsin-Superior – Carter LaMont, Jr., Villard, Minn./Minnewaska Area