Men’s Tennis Sweeps Ivy League Major Awards, Places Five on All-Ivy List
5/4/2023 3:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Zheng makes Ivy League history, earning Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and First Team honors
PRINCETON, N.J. – First-year Michael Zheng made Ivy League history Thursday as the first men's tennis player to be named Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Ivy in singles and doubles in the same season.
Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men's Tennis Howard Endelman '87CC earned Ivy League Coach of the Year honors as Columbia swept the major awards announced by the Ivy League on Thursday afternoon.
To cap off an already incredible season as a first-year, Zheng was named to the First Team All-Ivy singles team and the First Team All-Ivy doubles team as a unanimous selection for both. Zheng earned the honor of being named the Columbia Rookie of the Year for his performance this season.
As the Ivy League Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Ivy honoree in singles and doubles, Zheng became the first player in Ivy League history to win all four awards in one season. Yale's Marc Powers previously earned three of the four honors in 2010 as he was named Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-Ivy in singles.
"We are proud of Michael and his incredible and unprecedented achievements in his first year at Columbia," Endelman said. "These special honors are a result of Michael's hard work and dedication to our program."
Zheng is the first Lion to earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors since Victor Pham won the award back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. Zheng is also the first Columbia men's tennis player to win the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award since 2013.
As the No. 1 singles player for the Lions, Zheng achieved a 17-4 overall record this spring. He went 5-2 in the Ivy League duals with wins in the Penn, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown and Cornell duals.
On the doubles side, Zheng and Winegar teamed up in the No. 1 doubles for the last half of March and all of April. The duo went 5-3 together overall as they posted wins in duals against Princeton, Harvard and Brown. Winegar was named to the First Team doubles team as a unanimous selection.
After leading the Lions to 19 regular season wins in his fourth year as head coach, Endelman was recognized as the Ivy League Coach of the Year. Under Endelman's guidance, Columbia posted eight ranked wins, won the ECAC Championship, became the first Ivy League team to ever defeat UCLA and finished second in the Ivy League standings. The Lions achieved their fourth top 10 ranking since 2018 as the team ascended to the No. 9 spot in the ITA Rankings in March. Columbia finished the regular season ranked No. 13. Endelman was previously recognized as the 2015 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
"An honor like this is a direct result of the commitment and perseverance of the students we serve, plus the support of the entire Columbia Tennis family," Endelman said.
Alex Kotzen and Max Westphal were named to the Second Team All-Ivy singles team to cap off a successful showing for the Lions in this year's Ivy League men's tennis awards.
Westphal had a great spring as he compiled a 13-4 record, losing only one match during Ivy League action. He played the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 spot at different times throughout the season before solidifying his position in the No. 2 singles for the last month of Ivy League play.
Kotzen posted a 12-4 record throughout the spring. He earned wins in five Ivy matches as he finished the regular season on a five-match win streak in the No. 4 and 5 singles.
Ishaan Ravichander joined the list of Lions honored as an Academic All-Ivy selection. The junior from Belle Mead, New Jersey is enrolled in Columbia College.
Columbia will now get the NCAA Tournament started with a first-round matchup against St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing. A Columbia win will set up a matchup with Stanford or St. John's in the second round on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Zheng solidified his spot in the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championship as he was selected as one of the 64 singles players in the bracket. The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 22-27 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 18-20.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Men's Tennis by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsMTEN), Instagram (@culionsmten) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
Bidyut K. Goswami Head Coach of Men's Tennis Howard Endelman '87CC earned Ivy League Coach of the Year honors as Columbia swept the major awards announced by the Ivy League on Thursday afternoon.
To cap off an already incredible season as a first-year, Zheng was named to the First Team All-Ivy singles team and the First Team All-Ivy doubles team as a unanimous selection for both. Zheng earned the honor of being named the Columbia Rookie of the Year for his performance this season.
As the Ivy League Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Ivy honoree in singles and doubles, Zheng became the first player in Ivy League history to win all four awards in one season. Yale's Marc Powers previously earned three of the four honors in 2010 as he was named Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-Ivy in singles.
"We are proud of Michael and his incredible and unprecedented achievements in his first year at Columbia," Endelman said. "These special honors are a result of Michael's hard work and dedication to our program."
Zheng is the first Lion to earn Ivy League Player of the Year honors since Victor Pham won the award back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. Zheng is also the first Columbia men's tennis player to win the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award since 2013.
As the No. 1 singles player for the Lions, Zheng achieved a 17-4 overall record this spring. He went 5-2 in the Ivy League duals with wins in the Penn, Dartmouth, Yale, Brown and Cornell duals.
On the doubles side, Zheng and Winegar teamed up in the No. 1 doubles for the last half of March and all of April. The duo went 5-3 together overall as they posted wins in duals against Princeton, Harvard and Brown. Winegar was named to the First Team doubles team as a unanimous selection.
After leading the Lions to 19 regular season wins in his fourth year as head coach, Endelman was recognized as the Ivy League Coach of the Year. Under Endelman's guidance, Columbia posted eight ranked wins, won the ECAC Championship, became the first Ivy League team to ever defeat UCLA and finished second in the Ivy League standings. The Lions achieved their fourth top 10 ranking since 2018 as the team ascended to the No. 9 spot in the ITA Rankings in March. Columbia finished the regular season ranked No. 13. Endelman was previously recognized as the 2015 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
"An honor like this is a direct result of the commitment and perseverance of the students we serve, plus the support of the entire Columbia Tennis family," Endelman said.
Alex Kotzen and Max Westphal were named to the Second Team All-Ivy singles team to cap off a successful showing for the Lions in this year's Ivy League men's tennis awards.
Westphal had a great spring as he compiled a 13-4 record, losing only one match during Ivy League action. He played the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 spot at different times throughout the season before solidifying his position in the No. 2 singles for the last month of Ivy League play.
Kotzen posted a 12-4 record throughout the spring. He earned wins in five Ivy matches as he finished the regular season on a five-match win streak in the No. 4 and 5 singles.
Ishaan Ravichander joined the list of Lions honored as an Academic All-Ivy selection. The junior from Belle Mead, New Jersey is enrolled in Columbia College.
Columbia will now get the NCAA Tournament started with a first-round matchup against St. Francis Brooklyn on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing. A Columbia win will set up a matchup with Stanford or St. John's in the second round on Saturday at 12 p.m.
Zheng solidified his spot in the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championship as he was selected as one of the 64 singles players in the bracket. The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 22-27 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 18-20.
FOLLOWING THE LIONS
Stay up to date on all things Columbia Men's Tennis by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsMTEN), Instagram (@culionsmten) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).
Players Mentioned
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