David Knight named player of the year

May 11—– Five men and two women from the Northwestern tennis teams were selected to their respective Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) All-Conference squads on Tuesday following the completion of the 2011 season at the conference tournament last weekend at the Baseline Tennis Center.

Following their come-from-behind victory to claim the UMAC Tournament trophy for the first time in program history, the Eagle men's team boasted a handful of all-conference winners. David Knight, a freshman biology major from Fort Dodge, iowa, headlined the list as the freshman won UMAC Player of the Year honors following a 10–0 conference record between the Nos. 1 and 2 singles positions. Knight was joined by Caleb Kauss, a senior psychology major from St. Paul, Minn., and Keagan Blancke, a sophomore electronic media communication major from Elk River, Minn., on the all-conference list. Kauss was a combined 8–2 in UMAC matches while Blancke went 9–1 at the No. 3 singles spot. Both Kauss and Blancke were named to the all-conference team in 2010 as well.

Josh Fread, a senior history major from Minneapolis, Minn., and Josh Nelson, a freshman kinesiology major from Lino Lakes, Minn., rounded out Northwestern's representation on the men's side. Fread, a senior, was 8-2 at the No. 5 singles position, while Nelson boasted the same record at No. 4 singles in his freshman campaign.

Knight, Kauss, Blancke, Fread, and Nelson all received a medal as a flight champion at the UMAC Tournament.

On the women's side, the Eagles' No. 1 and 2 singles players in Dana Smith, a senior applied mathematics major from Ramsey, Minn., and Amy Knight, a sophomore biology major from Fort Dodge, Iowa, earned UMAC All-Conference honors. Together, the two combined to go 11–9 in conference affairs between the two positions. Knight was one of two Northwestern players to reach her respective championship match in the No. 2 singles flight at the UMAC Tournament. This is the second all-conference award for Smith.