INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Thursday that Southwest Baptist University sophomore Adham Gaber has been named the GLVC Player of the Year in the sport of men’s tennis. University of Indianapolis’ Tom Zeuch was unanimously voted the GLVC Freshman of the Year, and the Coach of the Year will be awarded to the coach of the tournament’s winning team. The pair was selected by the league coaches, as a total of 16 student-athletes from both the East and West Divisions were recognized as All-Conference honorees. In addition, 13 student-athletes were named GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award nominees.
Gaber is the first Bearcats major award winner in the sport in just the second year of league membership for SBU but first year of competition after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 season. The sophomore is the highest-ranked player in the league in the Oracle/ITA top-50 list at No. 7. During the season, Gaber only lost three matches with 18 wins at No. 1 singles and was 17-5 at No. 1 doubles, the majority of those matches played with Youseff Nabil. The Cairo, Egypt, product also picked up the only unanimous spot on the All-GLVC team.
Zeuch – a sophomore academically but freshman athletically – makes it three major newcomer honors in a row for UIndy, as teammates Maximilian Witthaus and Renato Lima were respectively the last two selections for GLVC Freshman of the Year. The Reiser, Germany, native is the seventh Greyhound to earn the distinction, as Christoph Drechsler (2015), Nico Kastunowicz (2014), Marko Saulovic (2000), and Curt Baumgartner (1997) also were voted as such. In singles play, Zeuch boasted a perfect 13-0, playing six matches at No. 1 and eight at the No. 2 position. He also split time in doubles action, going 5-1 at No. 1 and 5-2 at No. 2.
UIndy and SBU headline the 16-member All-GLVC squad with three nods apiece, while Drury University, Lewis University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis followed with two each. One honoree came from the University of Illinois Springfield, Lindenwood University, Maryville University, and Rockhurst University. The selections include eight players each from the East and West Divisions.
Along with Zeuch, the other two Greyhounds on the squad include Lima and Yoann Viel. Joining Gaber from SBU was freshman Alvaro Nunez and junior David Szeri. Drury’s duo included seniors Augustin Diot and Nico Hadeler; Lewis seniors David Ambrozic and Juan Ramirez Mejia were recognized; and UMSL graduate Ben Kasprzak and freshman Marcos Navas claimed the distinction. UIS junior Menno Servaes, Lindenwood senior Juan Herrera, Maryville senior Jack Beuttell Triggs, and Rockhurst sophomore Simon Birgerson rounded out the team.
The league also recognized Quincy as its GLVC Men’s Tennis James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award team recipients due to a tie in the voting, as well as 13 student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced in May.
A complete list of All-GLVC performers and major postseason award winners can be found below.
2021 GLVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Adham Gaber, So., Southwest Baptist
2021 GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Tom Zeuch, Indianapolis #
2021 GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Winner of Tournament
2021 ALL-GLVC POSTSEASON AWARDS
Augustin Diot, Sr., DU
Nico Hadeler, Sr., DU
Menno Servaes, Jr., UIS
Renato Lima, Sr., UINDY
Yoann Viel, Fr., UINDY
Tom Zeuch, So., UINDY
David Ambrozic, Sr., LEWIS
Juan Ramirez Mejia, Sr., LEWIS
Juan Herrera, Sr., LWU
Jack Beuttell Triggs, Sr., MU
Ben Kasprzak, Gr., UMSL
Marcos Navas, Fr., UMSL
Adham Gaber, So., SBU #
Alvaro Nunez, Fr., SBU
David Szeri, Jr., SBU
Simon Birgerson, So., RU
#Unanimous selection
2021 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP NOMINEES
Nico Hadeler, DU
Nikita Revin, UIS
Nikolaj Talimaa, UINDY
Daniel Sowa, LEWIS
Hector Horcajada, LWU
Sebastian Trigosso, MU
Anurag Reddy, MCK
Raphael Kerndl, UMSL
Erik Weiler, QU
Simon Birgerson, RU
Lucas Sakamaki, USI
Catarina Zheng, SBU
Cutter Sanders, WJC
2021 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Quincy