MEN'S TENNIS: Eastern Nazarene Junior Henry Siercke Named GNAC Player of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Siercke also earns First Team
Doubles honors with Opaschowski

WINTHROP, Mass. – Eastern Nazarene College junior Henry Siercke has been selected as the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's 10 head coaches.

Siercke, an All-GNAC First Team Singles selection, went 11-7 overall and 5-0 against league opponents at No. 1 singles for the Lions. He also earned First Team Doubles honors with ENC sophomore teammate Julius Opaschowski, going 9-2 overall at the No. 1 spot and a perfect 5-0 in the GNAC.

Opaschowski also earned First Team Singles accolades, going 10-2 overall at No. 2 singles and an unblemished 5-0 mark against GNAC opponents.

ENC freshman Diego Rodriguez was the Lions' third First Team Singles selection, while the Barquisimeto, Venezuela native was also voted as the 2019 GNAC Rookie of the Year.

For the complete list of all-conference and all-sportsmanship selections, please see below.

This season marked Eastern Nazarene's first competing in the GNAC as an associate member, with the program earning the GNAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament after defeating six-time defending conference champion Ramapo College this past Saturday in the GNAC Final. The Lions will make their first-ever NCAA appearance when they travel to Bowdoin to take on Yeshiva on Thursday, May 9 at noon.

Siercke was named GNAC Tournament MVP, while Opaschowski and Rodriguez joined him on the 2019 All-Tournament Team.

Also selected to the First Team were Colby-Sawyer College senior Alex Wright, Johnson & Wales University (RI) junior Alex Roxhana, and Ramapo senior Michael Abelev.

Colby-Sawyer, which was competing in the GNAC in its first year as a core member, placed three student-athletes – junior Matthew Burke, freshman Julius Lowman and junior Mike White – on the All-GNAC Second Team Singles. Colby-Sawyer also received the GNAC's institutional sportsmanship award in the sport of men's tennis for 2019. 

Joining the Chargers trio on the Second Team were Albertus Magnus College freshman Zak Levine, ENC freshman Tim Schoengens, and JWU junior Franz Frock.

ENC's Rodriguez/Schoengens tandem also garnered Second Team Doubles accolades after going 12-3 overall, including 5-0 in the GNAC, at the No. 2 doubles spot.

First Team Singles
Alex Wright, Colby-Sawyer (Sr., Cornwall, England)
Henry Siercke, Eastern Nazarene (Jr., Hamburg, Germany)
Julius Opaschowski, Eastern Nazarene (So., Hamburg, Germany)
Diego Rodriguez, Eastern Nazarene (Fr., Barquisimeto, Venezuela)
Alex Rohana, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Providence, R.I.)
Michael Abelev, Ramapo (Sr., Fair Lawn, N.J.)

First Team Doubles
Henry Siercke / Julius Opaschowski, Eastern Nazarene

Second Team Singles
Zak Levine, Albertus Magnus (Fr., Hamden, Conn.)
Matthew Burke, Colby-Sawyer (Jr., Milford, Conn.)
Julius Lowman, Colby-Sawyer (Fr., Bavaria, Germany)
Mike White, Colby-Sawyer (Jr., Woburn, Mass.)
Tim Schoengens, Eastern Nazarene (Fr., Inden, Germany)
Franz Fonck, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Santo Domingo, D.R.)

Second Team Doubles
Diego Rodriguez / Tim Schoengens , Eastern Nazarene

PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Henry Siercke , Eastern Nazarene College
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Diego Rodriguez, Eastern Nazarene College
COACH OF THE YEAR – Barry Schoonmaker, Colby-Sawyer College
INSTITUTIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD – Colby-Sawyer College

All-Sportsmanship Team
Alex Proscino, Albertus Magnus
Alex Wright, Colby-Sawyer
Shaw Campbell, Eastern Nazarene
Robert Michalofsky, Johnson & Wales
Tim Santy, Norwich
Alex Kogut, Ramapo
Owen Pelissier, Regis
Shariq Khan, Rutgers-Camden
Sebastian Narath, Rutgers-Newark
Mike DeFelice, Suffolk

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –