WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Phalkun Mam, who led the Whitman College men’s tennis team to an undefeated Northwest Conference regular season and a No. 12 national ranking, has been named NWC Player of the Year for men’s tennis.
Mam, a senior from Salem, Ore., is one of three Whitman seniors to make the eight-man All-NWC First Team. Steven Ly (Fairview, Ore.), last season’s NWC Player of the Year, and Robbie Munday (Okanogan Falls, B.C.) also received first-team honors in a season-ending vote of coaches. The player who gets the most first-team votes is also named Player of the Year.
Matt Solomon, a Whitman freshman from Los Gatos, Calif., was one of six players who made the All-NWC Second Team.
Mam got his senior season off to a strong start last fall, winning the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Northwest singles title. He then placed fifth at the ITA’s National Small College Championships in Fort Myers, Fla., to earn All-American honors. Mam rose to No. 4 in the national rankings at one point this spring, and he was twice named NWC Player of the Week.
With Mam playing No. 1 singles and teaming with Ly at No. 1 doubles, Whitman rolled through the NWC regular season with a 16-0 record. Despite an upset loss to Pacific Lutheran in the title match of the conference tournament, the Missionary win-loss record still stands at a sparkling 23-7, including a 17-1 mark against NWC opponents.
There could be at least one more match in Whitman’s season. The Missionaries will learn early next week if they will receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Div. III post-season.
Mam, who set a new Whitman school for individual career victories earlier this spring, can also add to his victory total this weekend when he and Solomon compete in California’s 107th Annual Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. Mam has 154 victories (singles, doubles) to his credit at Whitman.
Whitman tennis coach Jeff Northam wasn’t surprised to see Mam get Player of the Year honors this season, given his accomplishments throughout the year. "Other coaches and players also like Phalkun," Northam said. "He competes fair and hard. He’s just a fun guy to play against."
This marks the third time in Mam’s four seasons that he was voted to the All-NWC First Team. Mam, a graduate of Salem’s McKay High School, was named to the Second Team as a sophomore.
Ly, a graduate of Centennial High School in Gresham, Ore., was voted to the First Team for a fourth consecutive season. Ly, who played No. 1 singles for Whitman in each of his first three seasons, stepped back this spring to play No. 2 singles as Mam moved into the No. 1 spot.
Ly, who is No. 4 on Whitman’s career victory list, was named NWC Player of the Week in early April. He was the only NWC player invited last spring to the NCAA Div. III National Singles Championship.
Munday, a graduate of British Columbia’s Penticton Secondary, earned All-NWC First Team honors for the second time in his career. He was voted to the Second Team as both a sophomore and junior. He played No. 3 singles for much of this season and worked with sophomore Christoph Fuchs (LaCenter, Wash.) as one of Whitman’s top three doubles teams.
Munday, who also earned NWC Player of the Week honors this season, has moved into third place on Whitman’s list of career victories. He was named to ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District Team last spring, and will be nominated again for that honor in May.
"Coaching Steven, Phalkun and Robbie has been an absolute pleasure," Northam said. "They have been great representatives for Whitman. They are the reason our program has moved to a higher level and has been nationally ranked the past four years."
Solomon, who played his prep tennis at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas, played No. 4 singles for the Missionary in his first college season. Because Whitman frequently split its roster to play multiple matches on the same dates, Solomon also played a number of matches at No. 1 singles.
"Matt had the chance to play and beat four No. 1 players at other schools in the conference," Northam said. "He had a phenomenal fall season, winning the ITA Northwest regional in doubles (with freshman Nadeem Kassam), and then he spent most of the spring playing behind our three senior superstars. That was great experience and exposure for Matt."