While they await their opponent in the semifinals of the 2015 Horizon League Men's Tennis Championship, the Crusaders ride into West Lafayette with the No. 2 seed and one goal. 

"I certainly like the position we're in coming into the tournament. It's not going to be easy by any means. There's a lot of talent in this league, but we've been preparing for this weekend for a very long time," head coach Jim Daugherty said Thursday following the Horizon League Postseason Awards banquet.

The weekend got off to an encouraging start at the aforementioned banquet. Sophomore Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) became the first Crusader to be named Horizon League Player of the Year following another record-setting season. Schorsch, who has teetered between No. 1 and No. 2 singles this spring, is slated for the No. 1 flight ahead of fellow First Team All-League sophomore Dave Bacalla (Skokie, Ill./Niles North).  

If the third-seeded Cleveland State Vikings (16-7, 4-2) get past the sixth-seeded Detroit Titans (5-15, 1-5) in Friday's quarterfinals, it'll set up a rematch of the Crusaders and Vikings' stomach-turning showdown seven days ago in Northeast Ohio. The Vikes trailed 2-0 in that match before storming back for a 4-3 victory at the Case Western Reserve University Carlton Courts. 

Schorsch handled CSU's Joe VanMeter with relative ease atop singles play that afternoon, collecting a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Jorg van der Vloet got the best of Bacalla, though, 6-3, 7-5. Cleveland State recorded wins at No. 2-4 in singles, essentially neutralizing the Brown and Gold's clinching of the doubles point. 

The road to the ultimate goal - a Horizon League title - will be just as challenging in the finals. If the bottom half of the bracket goes chalk, the regular-season champion Green Bay Phoenix (16-7, 6-0) would meet the Crusaders (20-6, 4-2) for all the marbles.

Valpo's only other loss in league play came at the hands of the Phoenix - also a tight 4-3 defeat - on April 4th in Valparaiso. Schorsch played at No. 2 singles that match, but moving to the No. 1 slot would ensure a showdown for the ages between him and Michael Tenzer. Tenzer, a two-time Horizon League Player of the Year and a four-time First Team All-Leaguer, escaped with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Schorsch back on April 5th of 2014.

No. 1, 2, and 4 singles have been steady sources of wins for the Brown and Gold, thanks to records of 20-5, 21-5, and 21-5 at the respective flights. Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio/Poland) have combined for 13 of Valpo's 21 wins at the No. 4 spot. And while No. 3 singles represents the only flight that has produced a sub-.500 record (11-15, .423), No. 5 and 6 have yielded fruitful gains to the tune of 18-7 (.720) and 16-9 (.640) marks, respectively. 

Sophomore Kyle Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) has somewhat flown under the radar as he clinched his second consecutive 22-win season. He's 10-2 lifetime in Horizon League matches and provides a great deal of stability at the No. 5 spot.

The Crusaders have tried a medley of players at No. 6 singles including Lucas Waak (Manitowoc, Wis./Roncalli), Michael Savaglio (Kenosha, Wis./Mary D. Bradford). Freshman Chase Hamilton (Hinsdale, Ill./Central) was shoehorned into that role late in the regular season and has rewarded the coaching staff with a pair of triumphs over UIC and Youngstown State as part of an 11-match winning streak to close out the regular season.   

Doubles play remains an overwhelming strength for Valpo as evidenced by a 51-18 (.739) record in the spring.

Owners of a national ranking this past fall, Schorsch and Emhardt represent one of the top tandems in the Midwest. The duo has rattled off a 12-1 record in their last 15 tilts at No. 1 doubles - with the other two unfinished. Bacalla and Hamilton have been right on their heels, having accumulated 23 wins at No. 2. Meanwhile, Waak and Gardner have anchored the No. 3 flight with a 9-7 record.

"We've challenged our guys many times during the course of this season, and it was in anticipation of this weekend. We're ready to go," Daugherty concluded. 

ESPN3 will carry live video of all matches at this weekend's Horizon League Men's Tennis Championship. Valpo will get underway at 1:00 p.m. ET/12:00 p.m. CT at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette against the winner of Cleveland State/Detroit.