The recent history of success for the Valparaiso University men’s tennis program continued to grow as the program received another high honor on Thursday.

Junior Brandon Ancona (Belvidere, Ill. / Rockford Christian) was named the Summit League Player of the Year, while sophomore Kweisi Kenyatte (Detroit, Mich. / East English Village Preparatory) joins Ancona on the All-Summit Team.

This marks the fourth time in the last five years head coach Jim Daugherty has instructed a conference player of the year after Jeffrey Schorsch won three consecutive Horizon League Player of the Year distinctions in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Ancona burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2016-17 when he went 23-11 in singles play including a 5-0 mark in league action while starting for a Valpo team that won the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles and set a school record for wins with 23. He made an immediate splash by cracking the school record book for single-season singles victories. That success continued as he earned Summit Academic All-League team status as a sophomore in 2017-18. He garnered his first Summit League Player of the Week Award during a season that saw him finish 4-1 in league singles action.

Although his first two seasons featured their fair share of successes, the Valpo junior reached new heights in 2018-19. He enters the league tournament with a sparkling 23-5 overall singles record including a 5-1 mark in conference play and a 15-3 record during the spring season. He has formed a formidable No. 1 doubles duo alongside Kenyatte as the pair owns a 19-7 record. With over a full season of tennis remaining, Ancona ranks ninth in program history in career singles victories with 61.

Ancona garnered a tournament championship by winning Flight C Singles at the Western Michigan Invitational on Sept. 23. He added to his fall resume by pairing with Kenyatte to take home the Flight A Doubles Championship at the Purdue Fall Invitational on Oct. 7. During the spring season, Ancona accumulated three Summit League Player of the Week awards and at one point won 12 straight singles matches. He enters the league tournament with a 14-1 mark over his last 15 singles matches.

In addition to his doubles prowess alongside Ancona, Kenyatte has racked up numerous singles accomplishments this season. He owns a 21-5 overall record including a 16-1 mark during the dual match season and an undefeated 6-0 record in Summit League play. He enters the Summit League Tournament riding a 14-match winning streak in singles. Only a sophomore, Kenyatte has 41 career singles victories and has racked up 20+ wins in back-to-back seasons.

Valpo is in its second season as a Summit League affiliate member for men’s tennis. The athletic department was previously a full-fledged member of the conference, then known as the Mid-Continent Conference, from 1982-2007. During that time, Valpo had three Summit League Players of the Year, most recently 2006.

Valpo has now boasted 10 first-team all-conference honorees since the start of the 2014 season. This marks the sixth consecutive year Daugherty’s squad has had at least one player earn all-conference recognition. In addition, this is the fourth time in five years multiple Valpo players have been honored.

Ancona becomes part of an elite group of Valpo student-athletes who have won conference player of the year awards in men’s tennis, joining John Hall (Indiana Collegiate Conference MVP 1970), Rustam Urmeev (Mid-Con 1998), Nate Buckert (Mid-Con 2002), Nic Kooyers (Mid-Con 2006) and Schorsch (Horizon League 2015, 2016 and 2017).

Valpo, which has reached the league championship match in four consecutive season and gone to the NCAA Tournament twice in that span, will begin the Summit League Tournament on Friday at 6 p.m. against Drake in Tulsa, Okla.