All-MIAC Men's Tennis Team
WINONA, Minn. —
Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.),
Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) and
Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.) closed out illustrious collegiate careers by leading the Saint Mary's University men's tennis team to its first-ever berth in the six-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament last weekend.
If reaching the conference tournament was the frosting on the cake for the trio, Monday's announced that all three were named First Team All-MIAC was the cherry on top.
Lunka and Steingraeber are no strangers to the conference's all-conference spotlight, as the duo were named First Team All-MIAC in doubles for the third time in their four-year collegiate careers. Lunka and Puff, meanwhile, earned First-Team All-MIAC honors for the first time.
All-conference selections are made via a point system. Players are awarded four points for any win at No. 1 or 2 singles/doubles, three points for any win at No. 3 or 4 singles/doubles and two points for any win at No. 5 or 6 singles/doubles.
Lunka and Puff each earned 16 singles points, with Lunka going 4-4 at No. 1 singles, while Puff was 4-4 at No. 2. The four singles wins were the third-most in conference play behind league-leader Fabircio Moncada of Saint John's, who had eight, and Gustavus' Mya Smith-Dennis and Bethel's Tucker Morris, who each finished with five.
Lunka/Steingraeber has been one of the top doubles teams in the conference for the past four seasons. The senior pair picked up 10 points with their five MIAC doubles wins — only St. Thomas' team of Mitchell Blackey/Brian McCarthy had more wins.
Lunka leaves Saint Mary's as the school's career leader in doubles wins with 64, while Steingraeber is two back at 62. Steingraeber also set the single-season school record for doubles wins this season with 20, while Puff leaves SMU No. 2 all-time in singles wins with 52.
As part of the conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the seventh annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for men's and women's tennis, which included SMU's
Andrew Rangitsch (Oakdale, Minn.) and Deanne Webber (Reedsburg, Wis.)