CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. – The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has announced its 2017-18 Men’s Tennis All-Conference selections, which were determined during the individual tournament that was held at the Birchwood Tennis Club on Saturday and Sunday. The 2017-18 men’s tennis individual awards were also announced at the conclusion of the men’s tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The individual tournament consisted of the top-four seeded student-athletes for first through sixth singles and first through third doubles. Each flight saw the No. 1 seed take on the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed take on the No. 3 seed. The first-round winners advanced to the championship round, which produced six singles champions and three doubles champions, with those student-athletes also making up the All-Conference First Team. The runners-up from each flight in the championship round made up the All-Conference Second Team, while the All-Conference Third Team consists of the winners of each flight from the consolation bracket. 

Penn State Abington sophomore Michael Litz (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) was named NEAC Player of the Year for the second-straight season. Litz won his opening match on Sunday against Bryn Athyn College’s Amit Padmanabhan (Monroe Township, N.J.) by a score of 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the No. 1 Singles Championship Match. The top-seeded Litz went on to earn the league’s top individual honor with a 6-3, 6-0 victory in the final match of the weekend over Will Byler (Lancaster, Pa.) from Penn State Berks. Litz finished the weekend as a two-time NEAC All-Conference First Team selection with wins at No. 1 singles and doubles.

Penn State Berks Curtis Uhle (Blue Bell, Pa.) was selected as the NEAC Rookie of the Year after enter this year’s tournament as the top seed at No. 3 singles and part of the Nittany Lions’ duo that was the second seed in No. 2 doubles. In addition to his efforts to help his team earn NEAC/NAC West Division Championship, Uhle earned All-Conference First Team honors at No. 2 doubles. Uhle and partner Federico Ochoa (Buenos Aires, Argentina) defeated top-seeded Will DeMarco (Glen Mills, Pa.) and Garrett Benner (Selinsgrove, Pa.) from Penn College in the No. 2 doubles championship match. Uhle also earned an All-Conference Second Team nod at No. 3 singles.

Penn College head coach John Machak and Penn State Berks head coach Scott Yarnell were named NEAC Co-Coach of the Year. Machak led the Wildcats to a 4-1 record against NEAC teams to give Penn College the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. In just his second season, Machak’s team had three All-Conference First Team selections and six overall. Yarnell and the Nittany Lions entered the postseason as the top seed before going on to win their second-straight NEAC/NAC West Division Championship. Under Yarnell’s leadership, Penn State Berks had nine all-conference selections at the NEAC tournament. This year’s award marks the second time Yarnell has been honored by the league’s coaches.

Complete results from the men’s tournament can be viewed here. The 2017-18 NEAC All-Conference Team can be viewed below.

2017-18 NEAC Men's Tennis All-Conference Team

Flight	Name	Yr.	Hometown	Institution
First Team
No. 1 Singles	Michael Litz	So.	Huntingdon Valley, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 2 Singles	Diego Olazagasti	So.	Exeter, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 3 Singles	Garrett Benner	Fr.	Selinsgrove, Pa.	Penn College
No. 4 Singles	Federico Ochoa	So.	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Penn State Berks
No. 5 Singles	Andrew Mandujano	So.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 6 Singles	Stephen Helminiak	Sr.	Williamsport, Pa.	Penn College
No. 1 Doubles	Michael Litz Brandon Zweiback	So. So.	Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 2 Doubles	Curtis Uhle Federico Ochoa	Fr. So.	Blue Bell, Pa. Buenos Aires, Argentina	Penn State Berks
No. 3 Doubles	Stephen Helminiak Ethan Rosler	Sr. Jr.	Williamsport, Pa. Bloomsburg, Pa.	Penn College
Second Team
No. 1 Singles	Will Byler	Sr.	Lancaster, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 2 Singles	Ming Bowser	Jr.	Moses Lake, Wash.	Lancaster Bible
No. 3 Singles	Curtis Uhle	Fr.	Blue Bell, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 4 Singles	Will DeMarco	Fr.	Glen Mills, Pa.	Penn College
No. 5 Singles	Grant Batzer	Sr.	Lititz, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 6 Singles	Shane Leaf	Sr.	Coatesville, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 1 Doubles	Will Byler Diego Olazagasti	Sr. So.	Lancaster, Pa. Exeter, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 2 Doubles	Will DeMarco Garrett Benner	Fr. Fr.	Glen Mills, Pa. Selinsgrove, Pa.	Penn College
No. 3 Doubles	Grant Batzer Shane Leaf	Sr. Sr.	Lititz, Pa. Coatesville, Pa.	Penn State Berks
Third Team
No. 1 Singles	Luke Newberry	Jr.	Lititz, Pa.	Lancaster Bible
No. 2 Singles	Ilker Erkut	So.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 3 Singles	Evan Holbrook	Sr.	Rising Sun, Md.	Lancaster Bible
No. 4 Singles	Youssef Omar	Fr.	Cleveland, Ohio	Penn State Abington
No. 5 Singles	Keven Vallette	So.	Douglassville, Pa.	Lancaster Bible
No. 6 Singles	James Hutchinson	Jr.	Star Tannery, Va.	Lancaster Bible
No. 1 Doubles	Luke Whitenight Blake Whitmire	So. So.	Berwick, Pa. Shickshinny, Pa.	Penn College
No. 2 Doubles	Ilker Erkut Youssef Omar	So. Fr.	Philadelphia, Pa. Cleveland, Ohio	Penn State Abington
No. 3 Doubles	Andrew Mandujano Alex Sphabimxay	So. Fr.	Philadelphia, Pa. Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has fourteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University – Abington, Pennsylvania State University – Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville State College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M&W Lacrosse), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse, M Volleyball), Pennsylvania State University – Altoona (M Volleyball), and Rutgers University – Camden (M Golf). The NEAC has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of field hockey and men’s tennis. For more information, please visit: www.neacsports.com.

*Beginning with the 2010 season, the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) in the sport of men’s tennis. The NEAC will compete as associate members of the NAC in men’s tennis and members from each conference will be divided into an East and West Division. Each division will hold a championship and the two divisional champions will meet to determine the conference champion. The conference winner for each sport will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.