INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Thursday evening that Drury University junior Nico Hadeler has been named as GLVC Player of the Year in the sport of men’s tennis. University of Indianapolis’ Maximilian Witthaus Rebolledo was named 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 and recognized for their efforts at an awards reception on the eve of the 2019 GLVC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championship Tournament, which begins on Friday in Indianapolis, Indiana. 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.
Hadeler is Drury’s fifth major award winner in the sport, but this is the fifth time a Panther has won. Most recently, Maxi Hepp was honored as such in 2016, while Matias Oddine (2006) was the first and both Stefan Borg (2007-08) and Andy Blair (2012-13) each won back-to-back accolades. Hadeler is the 10th-ranked singles player in Division II with a No. 1 singles mark of 15-2 and a perfect 6-0 GLVC record. In doubles, he ranks No. 32 with Gregor Kokalj, as the duo went 13-4 overall and 6-0 in GLVC action at No. 1. The Heilshoop, Germany, product also picked up the only unanimous spot on the All-GLVC team for his third consecutive postseason laurel.
Witthaus Rebolledo makes it two major freshman honors in a row for UIndy, as teammate Renato Lima was last year’s selection for GLVC Freshman of the Year. The newcomer is the sixth 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 dual match singles play, Witthaus Rebolledo boasted a 10-3 record that included results from the No. 3, 4, 5, and 6 slots and went 4-1 in No. 3 doubles action with Nils Hoffacker. In GLVC action, the Germany native was unbeaten in both singles (5-0) and doubles (4-0).
UIndy headlines the 16-member All-GLVC squad with four nods, while Drury followed with three. Two honorees came from Lewis University, Maryville University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis, while one apiece was chosen from University of Illinois Springfield, Rockhurst University, and University of Southern Indiana. The selections include eight players each from the East and West Divisions. The four Greyhounds on the squad include graduate Nils Hoffacker, senior Magnus Mueller and sophomores Lima and Dario Huber. Joining Hadeler from Drury was a pair of sophomores in Kokalj and Augustin Diot. Lewis’ duo include senior Alan Braschinsky and sophomore Oskar Lusti; Maryville had two sophomores earn distinction in Jack Beuttell Triggs and Louis Glaves; and UMSL’s honorees were junior Ben Kasprzak and sophomore Vitor Monteiro. UIS senior Sam Clarke, Rockhurst senior Tarass Thevenaz, and Southern Indiana senior Ilia Karelin round out the team.
The league also recognized Quincy and Southern Indiana 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.
2019 GLVC Player of the Year: Nico Hadeler, Jr., Drury
2019 GLVC Freshman of the Year: Maximilian Witthaus Rebolledo, Fr., Indianapolis
2019 GLVC Coach of the Year: Winner of Tournament
2019 ALL-GLVC MEN’S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS
Augustin Diot, So., DU
Nico Hadeler, Jr., DU #
Gregor Kokalj, So., DU
Sam Clarke, Sr., UIS
Nils Hoffacker, Gr., UINDY
Dario Huber, So., UINDY
Renato Lima, So., UINDY
Magnus Mueller, Sr., UINDY
Alan Braschinksy, Sr., LEWIS
Oskar Lusti, So., LEWIS
Jack Beuttell Triggs, So., MU
Louis Glaves, So., MU
Ben Kasprzak, Jr., UMSL
Vitor Monteiro, So., UMSL
Tarass Thevenaz, Sr., RU
Ilia Karelin, Sr., USI
#Unanimous selection
2019 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP NOMINEES
Gregor Kokalj, DU
Tommy Martinez, UIS
Matej Kostadinov, UINDY
Oskar Lusti, LEWIS
Fernando de Andres, MU
Kayser Khan, MCK
Adrian Lessing, UMSL
Brenden Everhart, QU
Masao Perret, RU
Parker Collignon, USI
Nick Thiele, TSU
Bjorn Myers, WJC
2019 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Quincy & Southern Indiana