the Year and Wagner is Player of the Year
BEREA, OHIO — The Baldwin-Wallace College men's tennis team won its second straight Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament title last Saturday (April 30, 2005) when it shut out OAC rival Otterbein College, 4-0, in the championship match of the OAC Tournament in Marietta. For their efforts, the Yellow Jackets placed four players on the All-OAC team and 16-year veteran Head Coach Brian Rector was tabbed as the OAC Coach of the Year for the second straight time and senior number one singles and doubles player Mike Wagner (Avon Lake) was named as the Mark Lenssen OAC Player of the Year for the second straight year.
Rector led the Yellow Jackets to a school-record 23 wins this season and a 23-2 overall mark, including a perfect 9-0 slate and a second straight OAC regular season title. The 1989 graduate of the College improved his career mark to 266-57 overall.
In addition to his Player of the Year Award, Wagner was named to the first-team along with freshman No.2 singles and No.2 doubles player James Daly (Akron/ Firestone). Tabbed to the second-team All-OAC were senior No.3 singles and No.1 doubles player Ward Crane (Hudson/ Western Reserve Academy) and junior No.4 singles and No.3 doubles player Brandon May (New Philadelphia).
Wagner, who ended his career with a school-record 78 career wins and a 78-10 career mark overall, made the All-OAC first-team for the fourth straight year. His Player of the Year award marks just the second time in OAC history that a player has won back-to-back awards. This season, Wagner was 26-4 in singles player and combined with Crane for a 19-4 slate at No.1 doubles.
Crane also was tabbed to the All-OAC squad for the fourth straight year as he earned second-team honors. He had an 18-4 mark at No.3 singles. As a freshman, sophomore and junior, Crane was a first-team All-OAC choice. He ended his career with 62 wins and a 62-17 career record to rank sixth all-time at the College.
Daly ends his first college season with the Yellow Jacket single-season school-record of 29 victories and a 29-2 overall slate, including a 28-2 record at No.2 singles. Daly joined Wagner on the first-team. In addition, Daly combined with senior No.5 singles player Adam Slabodnick (Ashland/ Senior) for a school-record 24-2 record. Daly also had another single-season record with 26 total doubles victories (two with other doubles partners).
May joined Crane on the second-team and finished another outstanding season at No.4 singles and No.3 doubles. In singles play, May had a 19-1 record and team-leading .950 winning percentage and combined with multiple doubles partners for a 12-6 slate.
FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please call Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327, FAX him at 440-826-2329 or e-mail him at kruple@bw.edu.
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