Young Named B1G Freshman of the Year; Four Wolverines Voted All-Conference
4/28/2022 7:17:00 PM | Men's Tennis
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Gavin Young of the University of Michigan men's tennis team has been named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and four Wolverines earned All-Big Ten honors, the conference announced Thursday (April 28).
Jacob Bickersteth, Patrick Maloney and Ondrej Styler earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, while Young claimed a spot on the second team.
Young boasts a 25-6 overall singles record and had two stretches of seven straight wins. He went 11-3 during the fall season and claimed the Big Ten Singles Championship, winning all five matches in straight sets. Currently listed No. 94 nationally in singles, he ranked as high as No. 32 this season. This spring he posted at 14-3 dual mark (2-0 at No. 2, 4-2 at No. 4 and 8-1 at No. 4) and went 8-1 in conference play. Young and doubles partner Styler are ranked No. 28 and have an 8-5 dual-match record. The duo has two top-five wins over ranked pairs including No. 3 Trotter/Boulais (Ohio State) and No. 5 Fomba/Fearnley (TCU). Young is 15-9 in doubles this season.
Bickersteth earns his first All-B1G honor as he sports a 20-8 overall singles record. He went 14-2 in dual matches and 4-1 in the B1G. Currently riding a four-match win streak, he is ranked No. 61. He posted a season-best six-match win streak and had notable wins over No. 15 Henning (Georgia), No. 27 Broska (Michigan State), No. 21 Salle (Arizona State), No. 26 Trotter (Ohio State) No. 59 Goodger (Florida), No. 106 Cash (Ohio State) and No. 123 Jong (TCU). He adds an 11-5 mark in doubles play.
Maloney captures honors for the second time in his career. Currently on an 11-match win streak in singles and a 12-match win streak in doubles, he is a recent member of the Michigan 20/20 club. He is 21-6 in singles with a 13-1 dual mark (4-0 No. 2, 4-1 No. 3, 5-0 No. 4) and went 5-0 in the B1G. Maloney had wins over No. 41 Lah (Baylor) and No. 86 Milavsky (Harvard). He and doubles partner Nick Beaty are 15-2 on the dual-match season and went a perfect 6-0 in the B1G. Overall, Maloney is 21-6 in doubles.
Styler earned his third first-team B1G all-conference honor and was Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree. Ranked No. 30 in singles, he has an 18-4 overall record and went 14-3 in dual play (9-1 No. 1, 5-1 No. 2, 0-1 No. 3). He had the team's most wins in conference singles matches, going 8-1. Styler had a 10-match win streak during the season and notable wins over No. 16 Aguilar (TCU), No. 8 Kingsley (Ohio State) and No. 37 Foreman (Northwestern). He and Young are ranked No. 28 in doubles and have an 8-5 dual match record with two top-five wins over ranked pairs including No. 3 Trotter/Boulais (Ohio State) and No. 5 Fomba/Fearnley (TCU). Styler is 10-6 in doubles.
Michigan is 19-3 on the season and listed No. 8 in the latest ITA rankings. The team has been as high as No. 4 during its 13-match win streak and heads into this weekend's Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 seed with just one loss. The Wolverines will face Indiana in the quarterfinal round at 3 p.m. CDT Friday (April 29) in Madison, Wis.
2021-22 Big Ten Conference Men's Tennis Honors
Athlete of the Year: Cannon Kingsley, Ohio State
Freshman of the Year: Gavin Young, Michigan
Coach of the Year: Ty Tucker, Ohio State
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
Hunter Heck, Illinois*
Jacob Bickersteth, Michigan
Patrick Maloney, Michigan
Ondrej Styler, Michigan*
Jack Winkler, Michigan State
Simen Bratholm, Northwestern
Steven Forman, Northwestern*
Cannon Kingsley, Ohio State
JJ Tracy, Ohio State*
James Trotter, Ohio State
Jake Van Emburgh, Ohio State
Matej Vocel, Ohio State*
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
Olivier Stuart, Illinois
Gavin Young, Michigan
Trice Pickens, Northwestern
Robert Cash, Ohio State
Athell Bennett, Purdue
Jared Pratt, Wisconsin
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Lucas Horve, Illinois
Vikash Singh, Indiana
Ondrej Styler, Michigan
Josh Mukherjee, Michigan State
Will Gleason, Nebraska
Trice Pickens, Northwestern
James Trotter, Ohio State
Miko Eala, Penn State
Julen Morgan, Purdue
Gabriel Huber, Wisconsin
* unanimous selection
Players Mentioned
