Seriously. Who knew? I didn't. Then I started noticing the same name winning every tournament. Pjotrs Necajevs is a senior on the Detroit tennis team and I apologize for not including him in the Two Sense piece we did on the most dominant athlete in the Horizon League. This kid can play. I mean REALLY play. This may not be news to those of you that closely follow Horizon League tennis but bear with me.
Necajevs is the defending Horizon League newcomer of the year and player of the year. He's already won two tournaments this fall and is one of the best players in the area. Just ask his coach Grant Asher.
"Pete has not only established himself as one of the best in the Horizon League, but now one of the top players in the Midwest."
Umm. Yeah.
Necajevs is originally from Latvia and transferred to Detroit after two years at Mississippi State. Well traveled, Necajevs is now settled at Detroit and is destroying everybody on the court. Here are the results from Detroit's first fall tournament: IPFW Fall Invitational
Pjotrs and his Detroit teammates then went to the Frank Beeman Invitational where he won the Flight A championship and placed runner up in doubles with partner Chris Cheung. Necajevs beat two members of the Michigan State team and his championship victory was his* fourteenth* straight victory. Results
This past weekend Necajevs finally lost. That's right, he's human. Of course he did make it to the finals of the Ball State Invitational before falling to Cleveland State's Phil Orno 6-4, 6-7 (4), 10-4. Orno v. Necajevs could very well be the Horizon League Men's Tennis Championship this season. Having them play each other out of season is something that certainly separates tennis from most NCAA sports.
So in total, Necajevs is 2-for-3 this fall winning tournaments. And I believe Meatloaf said it best, Two out of Three Ain't Bad.
For a program in its second season, coach Asher has done a magnificent job of keeping the Titans ultra competitive. Asher has seen his team go toe-to-toe against the MAC, Big 10 and the Horizon League. It isn't solely Necajevs either. Patrick Troy is the Jonah Hill to Necajevs' Seth Rogan. Freshman Chris Cheung has been excellent teaming with Necajevs and has been solid in singles. Fellow freshmen Alex Latosinksky and Russ Kovar have also played well for the Titans giving them a good group of young and experienced players for HL play.
So, yes, they do play tennis in September, in Detroit no less, and they do it very well.
Tags: Cleveland State - Tennis · Detroit - Tennis · Horizon League - Tennis
