WSU's Drenth and DU's Bloch receive GLIAC Tennis Player of the Week honors

Posted: Feb 06, 2024

GLIAC -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) has announced its first tennis weekly awards for the 2024 campaign. Wayne State junior Cedric Drenth earned men's player of the week, while Davenport sophomore Amy Bloch was awarded women's player of the week.

MEN'S PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Cedric Drenth, Wayne State

Wayne State University junior Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) was named GLIAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week following his undefeated start to the season against Lawrence Tech and Division I Toledo. In singles, Drenth (ranked eighth in the Midwest Region) defeated LTU's Louam Boivin,6-4, 6-2, last Thursday, before downing UT's Marko Galic, 6-3, 6-2 - both at the second flight. In doubles, Drenth teamed up with his usual partner Daniel Grey for two more triumphs. The duo (ranked fifth in Division II and first in the Midwest) handled the Blue Devils' Boivin and Redwane Bouhajda by a 6-1 score, before beating Toledo's Poonthong Komolpisut and Pawit Sornlaksup, 6-3. The German's performance in both matches helped WSU to a pair of season-opening victories, including a narrow 4-3 win over the defending MAC Tournament Champions in the Rockets. It's the fourth time in Drenth's collegiate career that he has been named Player of the Week, following three such recognitions a season ago.

WOMEN'S PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Amy Bloch, Davenport

After leading the Davenport University women’s tennis team to a pair of victories this past weekend, Amy Bloch (Johannesburg, South Africa) has been named the GLIAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week. The Panthers defeated Aquinas on Friday (Feb. 2) 7-0 and Hillsdale on Sunday (Feb. 4) 4-3 to open the spring season. Playing at No. 1 singles, the sophomore won both of her matches over the weekend, defeating Carlota Arzabe (Aquinas) 6-2, 6-0 and Melanie Zampardo (Hillsdale) 6-3, 7-6 (5). Teamed with Willemien Coetzee at No. 1 doubles, the duo defeated Carlota Arzabe and Ruth Rabaut (Aquinas) 6-1 in the spring opener.