LOS ANGELES – UCLA men’s tennis player Mackenzie McDonald has added yet another honor to his impressive list of accomplishments this year, as he was named the 2016 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Men’s College Player of the Year on Tuesday. McDonald, a junior, is the second UCLA player in three years to earn the award, joining 2014 winner Marcos Giron. The other two Bruin winners are Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006) and Marcel Freeman (1982).
McDonald, from Piedmont, Calif., recently became the first player since 2001 to claim NCAA titles in both singles and doubles in the same season. In the NCAA singles final, McDonald upset top-seeded Mikael Torpegaard of Ohio State, 6-3, 6-3 to become the Bruins’ 12th singles champion in school history. Later in the day, he teamed with Martin Redlicki to claim the NCAA doubles title, as the Bruin duo downed Texas A&M’s Arthur Rinderknech and Jackson Withrow, 6-4, 6-1 in the final.
An All-American in both singles and doubles, McDonald ended the 2016 campaign as the No. 1 ranked player in the nation. He also finished the year ranked No. 1 in doubles with Redlicki. McDonald was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year for the second straight season, finishing the year with a 22-1 overall singles record. He was also 19-1 against ranked opponents, with his lone loss coming against 2015 NCAA singles champion Ryan Shane of Virginia. McDonald and Redlicki finished the season at 19-6 overall, earning Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year honors.
McDonald is the third UCLA athlete to earn national player of the year honors in 2015-16, joining women’s golfer Bronte Law and men’s water polo player Garrett Danner.
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