The Horizon League regular season champion Valparaiso University men’s tennis team was well represented as the league announced its postseason awards at Thursday night’s banquet in advance of this weekend’s Horizon League Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich.

It came as no surprise when Valpo No. 1 singles player Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg) was named the Horizon League Player of the Year for the third straight season. Schorsch becomes the first player in league history to win the Player of the Year award outright three times. Butler’s Brandon Curie was also a three-time honoree from 2000-2002, but he was the co-Player of the Year in 2001.

Veteran Valpo men’s tennis coach Jim Daugherty was named the Coach of the Year for the second straight season, while sophomore Chad Kissell (Latrobe, Pa. / Greater Latrobe) joined Schorsch on the all-league first team and senior Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) nailed down a place on the all-league second team.

Kissell has achieved all-league first team recognition in each of his first two collegiate seasons, while Emhardt is on the all-league second team for the second straight year.

Schorsch finished the regular season with a program-record 111 career singles wins. He went 25-6 overall, 19-1 in dual matches and 7-0 in Horizon League play this year. Schorsch and Emhardt were the ITA National Indoor doubles runners-up in the fall and have been nationally ranked throughout the spring, reaching as high as No. 8.

Kissell is 20-10 overall, 13-7 in dual matches and 5-1 in league play, competing mostly at No. 2 singles. Daugherty guided his squad to a 21-3 record and their second consecutive perfect league season, as the Crusaders finished 7-0 against league opponents. Daugherty has been at the helm of Valpo’s program since 1985. He’s led the program to new heights in recent years, as the Crusaders enter this week’s Horizon League Tournament two wins away from setting the school wins record for the fourth straight season.

The league tournament begins on Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., but the Crusaders have a first-round bye and will not play until Saturday. They’ll face off with the winner of a first-round showdown between No. 4 Youngstown State and No. 5 Northern Kentucky. Valpo beat the Penguins 7-0 and the Norse 6-1 in the regular season. 

Saturday’s league semifinal, which begins at 10 a.m. CT, will be broadcast on ESPN3 with Neal Ruhl handling play-by-play. Links to live coverage will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.