February 11, 2014
David Johnson - Monmouth College
Senior - St. Charles, Ill.
Jack Michael led the Carroll University men’s tennis team to a 6-3 victory over Carthage College in the 2013 season-opener. The Redmen entered the match ranked No. 20 in the region. Michael won both of his matches on Saturday night. He combined with Ryne Fertitta for an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles then won in three-sets at No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-7). Michael’s opponent was regionally ranked and was an All-American a year ago.

February 18, 2014
Tracy Johnson - Grinnell College
Sophomore - Wauwatosa, Wis.
Johnson was a perfect 4-0 over the weekend, winning a pair of singles matches and teaming with Emilio Gomez ’15 to claim two doubles wins. Playing in the No. 2 doubles slot, Johnson and Gomez won a 9-8 decision over Augustana, Ill., and 8-3 decision against Carleton College, the 10th-ranked team in the Central Region. Johnson won a 6-3, 6-0 decision at No. 5 singles against Augustana and earned the final point in the Pioneers’ victory over Carleton with a 6-1, 7-5 decision, also at No. 5. Johnson is now 6-2 in both singles and doubles this season while helping the Pioneers to a 6-1 dual meet record.

February 25, 2014
Max Gatyas - Knox College
Senior - Plymouth, Wis.
Gatyas had a hand in four wins as the Prairie Fire defeated Ripon College 6-3 and the University of Dubuque 5-4 at home on February 22. Gatyas won his #4 singles match against Ripon 6-0, 6-1 and played on the #2 doubles team for Knox that prevailed 8-2. Gatyas followed with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph against his #4 singles opponent from Dubuque and helped the Prairie Fire down their #2 doubles counterparts 8-5.

March 4, 2014
Elliott Czarnecki - Grinnell College
Junior - Sioux Falls, S.D.
Czarnecki went a perfect 4-of-4 Saturday, winning twice at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles as the Pioneers shut out Westminster College and Grand View University 9-0. He won 6-1, 6-0 in singles against Westminster and teamed with Tommy Pitcher ’17 to win 8-4 in doubles. In the Grand View match, he won 6-0, 6-2 in singles and posted an 8-1 victory with Pitcher in doubles. The wins helped Grinnell, the 15th-ranked team in the region, improve to 13-3 on the season.

March 11, 2014
C.J. Ray - Grinnell College
Sophomore - Ottumwa, Iowa
Ray was a perfect 5-for-5 as the Pioneers posted a trio of victories Saturday. He won two singles matches, beating his Central College foe 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot and winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 against Hastings College. Teaming up with Cole Miller ’17 in doubles, Ray won 8-6 against Central and 8-0 against Lawrence University at the second position and 8-3 against Hastings at No. 3. Ray and Miller are now 13-0 on the season, while Ray is 6-3 in singles. Those efforts have helped Grinnell, the 15th-ranked team in the Central Region, to a 16-3 record this season.

March 18, 2014
John Snider - Lake Forest College
Sophomore - North Muskegon, Mich.
Snider won all five of his singles matches and went 3-2 in doubles during Lake Forest’s Spring Break trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina, last week. He won 59 of a combined 75 games at #4 singles and prevailed in his first three matches of the week at #2 doubles.

March 25, 2014
Charlie Wilhelm - Grinnell College
Junior - Grinnell, Iowa
Wilhelm was perfect while helping the Pioneers to an undefeated spring break trip to Florida. Wilhelm posted singles wins against the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Oglethorpe, Hope and Hobart while improving to 14-2 on the season. With his help Grinnell, the Central Region’s 15th-ranked team, moved to 23-3 on the year. The win total is just one shy of the program record.

April 1, 2014
Chris Franco - Monmouth College
Senior - Rock Island, Ill.
Franco stepped up when the Scots needed him last week, taking the clinching match against Lake Forest to complete a 4-0 weekend. With the match tied at 4-4, Franco defeated his No. 1 singles counterpart 7-6, 6-3 to give Monmouth a 5-4 win. Earlier, he posted an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles with his brother Marco. Franco began his unbeaten weekend with an 8-4 win over Illinois Wesleyan, teaming with Derek Rineberg. France then posted a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles.

April 8, 2014
Walter Palmer - Knox College
Junior - Wilmette, Ill.
Palmer posted four wins for the Prairie Fire against St. Norbert College and Lake Forest College on April 5. Playing #1 singles, Palmer defeated Travis Buechel of St. Norbert 6-0, 6-2 and Ellis Lora-Arceo of Lake Forest 5-7, 6-4, 10-4. He also contributed to a pair of 8-4 victories for Knox in #1 doubles against the Green Knights and the Foresters. Palmer leads the Prairie Fire with eight #1 singles wins to go along with 10 victories – including three straight – in the #1 doubles slot.

April 15, 2014
David Stewart - Monmouth College
Senior - Peoria Hts., Ill.
Stewart did his best to keep Monmouth in the hunt for an MWC Tournament berth, going 4-0 last weekend. He teaed with No. 1 doubles partner David Stewart to roll to a pair of victories. The tandem, ranked 10th in the Central Region by the ITA posted an 8-4 win over Grinnell and then rolled to an 8-1 win over Cornell. Playing at No. 3 singles, he won in straight sets over his counterparts from Grinnell and Cornell.

April 22, 2014
Alexander Reid - Carroll University
Freshman - Mundelein, Ill.
Reid won the decisive point to lift the Carroll University men’s tennis team to a 5-4 victory over Lake Forest College. Reid, a freshman from Mundelein, Ill., lost the first set at the No. 6 singles flight but rallied for a 3-6, 2-6, 2-6 victory. Carroll’s win wrapped up the MWC North Division title and the North’s No. 1 seed at the MWC Tournament.