INDIANAPOLIS – Adding to his accomplished collegiate career, Belmont University men's tennis senior
Alfred Wallin has been named Horizon League Men's Tennis Player of the Year as announced by the league office Thursday afternoon. Wallin, along with senior
Tomas Luis and junior
Ian Cruz, have also been selected to the All-Horizon League First Team.
A native of Malmö, Sweden (Malmö Idrottsgymnasium), Wallin picks up his second-straight All-Horizon League First Team plaudit after landing a spot on the All-Ohio Valley Conference Second Team as a sophomore in 2022. Both Luis and Cruz were members of the All-Horizon League Second Team last spring. Hailing from Tavira, Portugal (Escola Secundária de Fonseca Benevides), Luis earns his fourth all-conference accolade after twice being named All-OVC Second Team as a freshman and sophomore in 2021 and 2022. Cruz, a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Colégio Ao Cubo), was the 2022 OVC Freshman of the Year and was also an All-OVC Second Team pick that year.
Wallin becomes the first Bruin to be chosen as conference player of the year since
Marko Ilic was tabbed 2021 OVC Player of the Year.
Winning six of his last eight completed regular season matches at the top singles spot, Wallin went 4-0 in Horizon League play and 10-6 overall this spring. After going 8-2 in the fall, which included a run at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships qualifying and a spot in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship quarterfinals, Wallin enters postseason play with an 18-8 singles record this year. Alongside Cruz, Wallin snagged Horizon League Doubles Team of the Week recognition on April 10.
Earning Horizon League Singles Player of the Week honors three times this season, Luis surpassed Ilic (2018-21, 2022-23) for the most singles wins in a Belmont career just this past weekend. With 74 career singles victories, Luis went 5-0 in Horizon League action and posted a 14-3 record at No. 2 singles during the regular season. For the year, Luis is 19-6 in singles. He picked up a thrilling three-set win at top-25 ranked Memphis in late February and collected Horizon League Doubles Team of the Week distinction on April 3 with redshirt junior
Diego Castro.
Named Horizon League Singles Player of the Week on April 10, Cruz led the Bruins in both singles and doubles wins during the regular season. An impressive 20-5 on year in singles action, Cruz holds a 12-6 doubles record. Going 13-3 at No. 3 singles, Cruz stepped up to No. 2 singles for a straight-set win at nationally-ranked Stetson in March. He went 4-0 in both singles and doubles in Horizon League play, teaming up with Wallin to win seven consecutive matches between the second and third doubles spots. Across three seasons, Cruz is an unblemished 17-0 in conference singles matches.
Upholding Belmont's core values, Luis was also a finalist for the Horizon League Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award.
The trio led the Bruins to their third-straight conference regular season championship as Belmont won its second consecutive Horizon League South Division title last Saturday with a 4-3 victory over rival Tennessee Tech.
The top seed in the South Division at the 2024 Horizon League Men's Tennis Championship this weekend, the Bruins will take on either No. 2 North Division seed Northern Kentucky or No. 3 South Division seed Tennessee Tech in the semifinals Saturday morning. Held at the Schwartz Tennis Center on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, the Horizon League Championship semifinals will get underway at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET.
2024 Horizon League Men's Tennis Awards
Player of the Year: Alfred Wallin, Belmont
Coach of the Year: Brian Etzkin, Cleveland State
Freshman of the Year: Lincoln Battle, Cleveland State
Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award: Dylan Brown, Southern Indiana
All-Horizon League First Team
Ian Cruz, Belmont
Tomas Luis, Belmont
Alfred Wallin, Belmont
Pedro Alvarez, Chicago State
Lincoln Battle, Cleveland State
Nick Nienhaus, Northern Kentucky
All-Horizon League Second Team
Mikael Erler, Cleveland State
Josef Zapletal, Northern Kentucky
Taj Hibbert, Tennessee State
Nil Moinet, Tennessee State
Alex Alvarez, Tennessee Tech
Onder Balci, Youngstown State
Nishant Dabas, Youngstown State
Horizon League Men's Tennis Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award Finalists
Tomas Luis, Belmont
Kade Mindry, Cleveland State
Thomas Wallace, Eastern Illinois
Kamil Kozerski, IUPUI
Brandon Ponomarew, Northern Kentucky
Dylan Brown, Southern Indiana (award winner)
Jonasz Dziopak, Tennessee State
Asier Pena Ibanez, Youngstown State
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