Fenty Named Big Ten Player of Year; U-M Trio Selected to All-Big Ten Teams
5/20/2020 3:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Sophomore Andrew Fenty of the University of Michigan men's tennis team was named the Big Ten Men's Tennis Player of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday (May 20).
Fenty was a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten first team along with freshman Ondrej Styler, and junior Mattias Siimar was named to the All-Big Ten second team.
This marks the first time since 1996 that Michigan has had three players named All-Big Ten.
A two-time ITA All-American this season, winning the accolades in both singles and doubles, Fenty was the league's Rookie of the Year last season. He is the fourth Wolverine in program history to earn both league honors, joining MaliVai Washington, Dan Brakus and Evan King,
Fenty was the Big Ten Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week in three of the eight weeks it was awarded (Jan. 22, Feb. 4 and Feb. 18). He posted a 17-9 record in singles and was 11-4 at No. 1 singles during dual-match play. Fenty went 7-1 against nationally-ranked singles opponents, highlighted by a win over then-No. 2 Yuya Ito of Texas on Feb. 15. He concluded the season ranked No. 16 in the final ITA singles rankings (March 8). In doubles, Fenty and partner Siimar finished No. 2 in the final ITA doubles rankings. The duo posted a 25-4 record this season, which included a 13-match win streak, while going 13-2 in dual matches.
Styler had the second-best singles win percentage on the team (.692) as he boasted an 18-8 overall record. Playing at No. 2 and 3 singles during the dual-match season, Styler went 9-3 and was ranked in the top 100 all season, reaching No. 32. He captured five wins over ranked opponents, highlighted by a victory against No. 12 Christian Sigsgaard (Texas). Styler clinched team victories three times this season at No. 2 singles. The first came in a third-set tiebreaker versus Mississippi at the ITA Kick-Off that sent Michigan to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship for the first time since 2009. There, he earned a three-set, first-round win over No. 34-ranked Juan Carlos Aguilar of No. 7 Texas A&M to send Michigan to the semifinals. Styler then helped Michigan to a three-set win at No. 2 singles at Notre Dame. In doubles play, Styler and teammate Connor Johnston were ranked as high as No. 42 and boasted a 13-4 record.
Earning his first career All-America honors this year, Siimar and partner Fenty finished as the second-best doubles pair in the nation. Spring season saw the pair go 13-2 to cap the season with a 25-4 overall record. In singles action, Siimar went 15-8 with a perfect 5-0 record at No. 2 singles. He began the season on an eight-match win streak and ended the season with back-to-back victories as the 112th-ranked singles player.
While making a name for itself nationally, Michigan had won its first Big Ten contest and was poised to resume conference play against Michigan State at the Varsity Tennis Center on March 13. However, on March 12, the remainder of the No. 3-ranked Wolverines' schedule was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019-20 Men's Tennis All-Big Ten Teams
First Team
Aleks Kovacevic, Illinois
ALEX BROWN, ILLINOIS
Bennett Crane, Indiana
Kareem Allaf, Iowa
Ondrej Styler, Michigan
ANDREW FENTY, MICHIGAN
Stefan Milicevic, Minnesota
Dominik Stary, Northwestern
JOHN MCNALLY, OHIO STATE
Kyle Seelig, Ohio State
CANNON KINGSLEY, OHIO STATE
ATHELL BENNETT, PURDUE
Second Team
Siphosothando Montsi, Illinois
Will Davies, Iowa
Mattias Siimar, Michigan
Steven Forman, Northwestern
James Trotter, Ohio State
Christian Lakoseljac, Penn State
Player of the Year
Andrew Fenty, Michigan
Freshman of the Year
Cannon Kingsley, Ohio State
Unanimous selections designated in ALL CAPS
Players Mentioned
