KANSAS CITY, Mo.- Ave Maria University men's tennis player Nicholas Hofmeister was named the NAIA National Player of the Week on Wednesday, as announced by the national office in Kansas City. Student-athletes from across the nation were nominated for their performances and were selected out of a pool of conference and Association of Independent Institutions award winners.
The honor marks the first time in program history, men's or women's, where an Ave Maria tennis player has been honored as the top player in the nation for a given week. Hofmeister was also named The Sun Conference Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. The conference award was the second of the senior's career, with the first coming during Hofmeister's freshman season in 2018.
Hofmeister went undefeated in his four matches from March 22-28, winning two matches each in conference affairs against Southeastern University and the College of Coastal Georgia. His efforts, especially in Ave Maria's win over the then-nationally ranked Mariners, helped the Gyrenes leap into the newest edition of the NAIA Coaches' Poll, where AMU is ranked No. 24 in the nation.
Against Southeastern, Hofmeister was responsible for two of AMU's three wins against the nationally ranked Fire, who claimed a 5-2 victory in Lakeland. Along with doubles partner Luca Cirenza, Hofmeister claimed a 6-1 victory in doubles play over SEU's pair of Alexandre D'aboville and Omar Fiorenzato. He then earned Ave Maria's only straight sets singles win of the afternoon, winning at the number two singles spot. The senior defeated Enrique Martinez, 6-4, 6-3.
On Saturday, Hofmeister played a key role in Ave Maria's first ever victory over the Coastal Georgia Mariners. Although Coastal Georgia won the doubles point, Hofmeister and Cirenza earned a hard-fought doubles win at the top spot, emerging with a 7-6 win over Lucas Landaluce and Khanyakweze Ramokgopa. As part of AMU's comeback in singles play, Hofmeister earned a 6-3, 7-5 win over Coastal Georgia's Felix Arroyo Viglino.
Thus far this season, Hofmeister has been Ave Maria's winningest player, claiming 20 total victories (11 in singles and nine in doubles). The Greenwood, Indiana native is currently playing his best tennis of the season, and has won six consecutive singles matches and four straight doubles contests. Hofmeister is also 6-2 in Sun Conference matches, winning three of his four matchups in both singles and doubles action.
AMU's victory against Coastal Georgia kept the Gyrenes in contention for a berth in The Sun Conference Tournament, as AMU still has two conference matches remaining after the team's match with Webber International University was ruled a forfeit victory. The next match is scheduled for Saturday, April 10, when the Gyrenes take on the Royals of Warner University. Opening serve is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., with Senior Day festivities scheduled before the match, which will be AMU's final home match of the 2021 season.
