By: Ryan Hartwig (@RyanHartwig)
GreenBayPhoenix.com
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - When Mark Thomas took over as head coach of the
Green Bay men's tennis team in 2008, he had plans of elevating the program to
new heights. In 2011-12, after four seasons of increased success, Thomas and
the Phoenix did just that by winning the school's first Horizon League
Championship and earning its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Green
Bay finished the year with a school-record 19 wins (19-7, 6-1 Horizon League),
defeating four-time defending champion Cleveland State in the Horizon League
title match before wrapping up the season with a hard-fought NCAA tourney loss
at No. 7 Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif.
"This
season's experience was big for the program," Thomas said. "We're just on the
verge of being ranked. We played the No. 7 team in the nation and battled. We
know what we need to focus on to get to that next level, and that's what we're
going to work hard for next year."
The
Phoenix has steadily improved under Thomas, winning nine matches his first
year, 13 his second and a then-record 16 his third before the program-best 19
wins in 2011-12.
One
of the first players Thomas brought into the program was Paul Swanson
(Coon Rapids, Minn.), who recently wrapped up one of the most successful careers
in Green Bay history. Swanson has played a key role in the team's four-year
climb to the top of the Horizon League, finishing his career as the school's
all-time leader in singles victories with a record of 94-42 (64-28 spring,
30-14 fall).
"Winning
the Horizon League and making it to the NCAA Tournament has been the dream
since my freshman year," Swanson said. "We've just built this team up every
year, we've gotten a little bit better, brought in stronger recruits, and the
guys have worked hard in practice every day."
The
senior was second in the Horizon League Player of the Year voting this year,
earning first team all-league honors for the first time after picking up second
team recognition in each of his first three seasons. He was the first Phoenix
player since Ben Davis (2001-04) to earn all-conference honors in each of his
four years.
The
Phoenix had three
total all-conference selections, as freshman Michael Tenzer
(Neuried, Germany) joined Swanson on the first team and junior Erik
Finkenbrink (Duelmen, Germany) earned a second-team nod. Green Bay was the
only school to land more than one player on the first team, and the three
all-league selections tied Wright State for the most from one school.
Swanson
and Tenzer became the first Phoenix players to earn first team honors since Tim
Prudlow was selected in 2007. It also marked the first time Green Bay placed
two on the first team since 2003 when Davis and Robert Shamilikian grabbed
first-team hardware.
HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Green
Bay earned
the No. 2 seed and a first round bye in the 2012 Horizon League tournament
after finishing the conference slate with a 6-1 record. Its only defeat came to
top-seeded Wright State (7-0), a 4-3 road loss on April 14.
Watch
a Horizon League Championships preview story by Fox 11 here.
The
Phoenix rolled
past No. 6 Butler in the Horizon League semifinals 4-1, earning its second
straight trip to the title match against fourth-seeded Cleveland State, who
beat the top-ranked Raiders in their semifinal match. Green Bay got off to a
fast start in the championship contest, winning the doubles point and closing
out two of the first three singles matches before Tenzer
secured the 4-1 victory with a win at No. 2 singles.
Watch
a recap of the 2012 Horizon League Championships here.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
After
returning from Indianapolis with the school's first Horizon League Championship
trophy, the Phoenix gathered at The Bar on Lime Kiln to watch the NCAA.com
Selection Show to find out its opponent in the program's first NCAA
Tournament. The team learned that it would be traveling to Malibu, Calif., to take
on one of the top teams in the nation - No. 7 Pepperdine - on its home
courts.
Watch
Green Bay's selection show reaction here.
Green
Bay battled
hard against the Waves, who were coming off their 42nd West Coast
Conference title, but the Phoenix's historic season ultimately came to an end
on the shores of the Pacific Ocean with a 4-0 result. The win was Pepperdine's
21st in a row, their longest streak of dual victories in school history. The
Waves went on to win four more NCAA Tournament matches to advance to the Final
Four where they fell
4-1 to national runner-up Virginia.
One
of the highlights of Green Bay's match at Pepperdine came from senior Christoph Hopfe (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany), who was playing his best tennis in the
final contest of his career. Hopfe dominated the first set with a 6-1 win over
Daniel Moss at No. 6 singles and was on serve down 5-4 when the Waves secured
the fourth and final point of the afternoon.
Despite
the loss, Thomas was extremely proud of his squad and knows that the experience
gained from the team's first NCAA Tournament trip will bode well for the
Phoenix in the coming years.
"We
played with great effort from the very start," Thomas said. "Our guys competed
well. It's been a great year. I'm really proud of the effort from start to
finish and it's something that we're going to build on. It was our first time
here at the NCAAs, and we're looking forward to bigger and better things in the
future."
NOTEWORTHY
BY THE NUMBERS: Green Bay posted
several impressive numbers during its historic 2011-12 campaign. The
Phoenix went a combined 15-0 in non-road matches (8-0 at home, 7-0 on neutral
courts). Craig Cox (Surrey, England) posted a team-high 21 singles
victories (21-4), going 12-0 when playing at No. 3 and No. 4. Erik Finkenbrink
recorded a team-best 20-4 doubles record, which included a 14-2 mark at the No.
1 spot.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Green
Bay picked up four Horizon League Player of the Week awards in 2011-12, as Paul
Swanson was honored twice and Michael Tenzer and Craig Cox were each recognized
once. Swanson won league honors in back-to-back weeks (April
3, April
10), leading the Phoenix to a 4-0 start in conference play while going 4-0
in singles action. They marked the second and third awards of his career, as he
was also honored
as a sophomore in 2010.
Tenzer
won
his first career player of the week award on Feb. 22 after going a combined
7-0 in singles and doubles, helping the Phoenix to a 4-0 record during the
period of Feb. 13-19. Cox picked
up the weekly honors on Jan. 31 after he posted a 4-0 record in the team's
first weekend of play. It marked the first such award of Cox's career.
EARNING RANK: The 2011-12
season was a year of firsts for the Phoenix. In addition to its first Horizon
League title and first NCAA appearance, Green Bay also had its first
nationally-ranked double team. In March it was announced that the freshman duo
of Michael Tenzer and Felix Goepper (Seelbach, Germany) were ranked 61st
among Division I doubles partners. Tenzer and Goepper finished the year with a
13-4 doubles record, including an unbeaten 8-0 mark at the No. 2 spot.
FANTASTIC FALL: In addition
to its record-breaking spring, the Phoenix also had a successful fall season
against tough competition. In the year-opening Purdue Invitational, Swanson took
home the Flight B singles championship, winning five matches over three
days in the 11-team, 45-player field. Swanson then went unbeaten at the Bradley
Invitational, taking the No. 3 singles title, while Finkenbrink went 4-0 to
claim the No. 1 singles flight. At the Ball
State Invite Swanson made it three-for-three when he went 5-0 to capture
the Flight A singles title, defeating his opponent from Louisville in the final
match. The Phoenix also had doubles teams come away with fall titles, including
the freshman duo of Tenzer and Michael Tebon (Excelsior, Minn.), who
nabbed the Cardinal bracket championship at Ball State.
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VIDEO: Phoenix Completes Historic 2011-12 Season
