KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association released its men's tennis major award winners and all-conference honorees on Tuesday afternoon. The announcement comes on the eve of the MIAA/GAC Tournament and among the honorees representing #12 Southern Arkansas, which carries the No. 2 seed from the South Division into postseason play, was fourth-year head coach Greg Owen's entire singles and doubles lineup headlined by two All-MIAA/GAC first team singles players and a first team All-MAA/GAC doubles pair.
 
Junior Marko Nikoliuk, a native of Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, received two first team honors as he was tabbed an All-MIAA/GAC first team performer at No. 3 singles and as well as a first team honoree at No. 1 doubles alongside partner junior Sander Jans. Sophomore Ole Valkyser claimed his second All-MIAA/GAC first team nod at No. 4 singles. Valkyser's play in double alongside partner freshman Matthew Tennant earned the pair second-team recognition at No. 3 doubles. It marked the second all-league doubles honor for Valkyser after being named a first team honoree last season.
 
Four singles players, Jans at No. 1, senior Stuart Rehfuss at No. 2, junior Sofiane Bah at No. 5 and senior Yuri Gondouin at No. 6, all received honorable mention as did Bah and Rehfuss at No. 2 doubles.
 
Nikoliuk, a second team honoree at No. 3 singles last spring, enters the postseason ranked No. 19 nationally. Nikoliuk has built an overall singles record of 21-8 across both semesters with a 12-8 record this spring which includes a 12-7 record against Division II opponents since February 5. The 2021 ITA Central Region Singles Champion and ITA Cup participant, Nikoliuk has held a top 20 ITA DII National Singles ranking for seven-straight weeks reaching as high as No. 6 in the country.
 
A one-time MIAA-GAC Player of the Week in 2022, Nikoliuk teamed up with Valkyser last fall and the pair won the GAC Flight 2 doubles. This spring, Nikoliuk joined Jans and the pair has been dominant. The two own a current doubles record of 13-5 and have ranked in the top 15 ITA DII National Doubles ranking for six of the seven weeks and have been inside the top 30 for all seven weeks. On April 7, the pair reached a program best No. 3 in the country. It marks the second straight first team honor in doubles play for Jans after he earned the distinction last spring alongside teammate Sofiane Bah.
 
In 22 singles matches across both semesters, Valkyser has posted a 17-5 record and enters postseason play having won seven straight matches and 11 of his past 12. A one-time MIAA-GAC Player of the Week this spring, Valkyser claimed the Flight 2 singles title at the GAC Individual Championships this past September.
 
Australia native Tennant and Germany native Valkyser first partnered up in early September and won three matches at the Tyler Junior College Invite. The two met back up in late March and have since posted a 6-1 record with wins in their last five trips to the court. In his first year in Magnolia, Tennant has is 11-2 overall in doubles play and has won nine singles matches.
 
Jans, who is currently ranked No. 63 in the country, won his first 10 singles matches of the spring. A native of Roden, Netherlands enters the league tournament with an overall singles record of 17-11. Jans, who represented SAU in the fall ITA Cup as an at-large selection after earning a pair of singles wins at the Central Regional, owns a 12-6 singles record this spring and was named an MIAA-GAC player of the Week. Wednesday's honor marks consecutive all-league nods for Jans after HM status last spring.
 
Rehfuss has also been in the national spotlight this spring. In his return to Magnolia, the Xanten, Germany native has spent significant time in the ITA rankings and enters the postseason as the No. 47 ranked player in Division II. Arriving back in Mulerider Country for the spring season, Rehfuss has put together an overall singles record of 14-4 which included ten straight wins to start the campaign. This season, he was named the league's player of the week twice.  
 
Along with Bah, the two gelled quickly and have put together an 11-7 record overall and a 10-5 showing against DII opponents. Bah won three doubles matches with Jans in the fall. A native of Évry, France, Bah has complied a 12-7 record overall in singles play with an 11-5 mark against DII foes. Bah earned first team honors as both a singles and doubles player last spring.
 
Gondouin, who earned second team honors in both singles and doubles play last spring as well as the league's sportsmanship award, has won six singles matches this season with four coming in the spring. The Saint-Germain-En-Laye, France native is 7-4 in doubles action with a 6-2 result in such matches this spring.
 
2021-22 Southern Arkansas All-MIAA/GAC Selections
 
First-Team
No. 3 Singles – Marko Nikoliuk
No. 4 Singles – Ole Valkyser
No. 1 Doubles – Sander Jans and Marko Nikoliuk
 
Second-Team
No. 3 Doubles –Matthew Tennant and Ole Valkyser
 
Honorable Mentions
No. 1 Singles – Sander Jans
No. 2 Singles – Stuart Rehfuss
No. 5 Singles – Sofiane Bah
No. 6 Singles – Yuri Gondouin
No. 2 Doubles – Sofiane Bah and Stuart Rehfuss
 
Southern Arkansas' postseason runs begins on Wednesday against No. 3 Newman at 10 a.m. from Edmond, Oklahoma. A win over the Jets would send the Muleriders to the MIAA-GAC Tournament Semifinals at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. SAU and Newman previously met on March 13 in Magnolia. The Muleriders claimed a 6-1 win over the Jets. SAU also beat NU 4-1 in the first matchup between the two programs which took place in Magnolia in March of 2019.