As the Horizon League Men's Tennis Championship gets underway in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Crusaders arrive with a target on their back. Owners of a 6-0 record during the league portion of the season, Valpo's toughest test came at Green Bay, where it prevailed with a 5-2 road win over the second-seeded Green Bay Phoenix. The Crusaders have won ten consecutive matches dating back to March 6th. Three of their five losses came at the hands of ranked opponents (#7 Illinois, #46 Louisville, #68 Purdue). 

On an individual level, Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) has been as close to automatic atop both singles and doubles. Schorsch and Charlie Emhardt (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) have lost once in the past 90 days. Together, they've won 55 matches since the beginning of last season. The most accomplished duo in Valpo men's tennis history was assigned the No. 33 national ranking this past January. Both were culprits in the team's looting of the Horizon League postseason awards distributed Thursday evening. Schorsch repeated as Player of the Year while Emhardt graced the All-League Second Team. 

Freshman Chad Kissell (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) elbowed his way onto the First Team following his 26-8 regular season. Additionally, he was rewarded with the league's Freshman of the Year honor. He was one of four Crusaders to go undefeated in Horizon League play. Kissell has won 14 of his last 15 singles matches and 10 of his previous 11 doubles tilts. He and Kyle Dunn (Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac) have formed a tremendous tandem at No. 3 to complement Schorsch and Emhardt.

Dunn has been somewhat of an unsung hero for the Brown and Gold. He won 22 singles matches in each of his first two seasons at Valparaiso, and with a good weekend, he can match that mark in Michigan. Dunn is 45-14 all-time in doubles play, good for a .763 winning percentage. Simply put, he just wins. He spent the majority of the season at No. 6 singles.

Garrett Gardner (Poland, Ohio/Poland) was 18-11 in singles play this past year in addition to netting 13 doubles triumphs. Since the calendar flipped to February, his singles mark is 14-3. Most of his work has been done at No. 5, but he has seen time at No. 4.

Junior Dave Bacalla (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) was recovered from a bit of a midseason lull to win three straight in singles. He didn't waver a bit in HL doubles action, amassing a 4-0 record there alongside Gardner and Lucas Waak (Manitowoc, Wis./Roncalli). 

Valpo will open with Cleveland State in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders delivered a 7-0 shutout of the Vikings this past Sunday at the Valpo Tennis Complex. The Brown and Gold won all six singles matches in straight sets after rallying for the doubles point. A victory would advance them into the championship match for the second straight year.  

ESPN3 is carrying live video of all matches at Preston Robert Tisch Building. The link to the video is posted at ValpoAthletics.com.