May 2, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Luther College junior Christian Klein (Decorah, Iowa/Minnetonka (Minn.)) has been named 2006 IIAC men’s tennis Most Valuable Player and Luther head coach Brian Huinker has been named 2006 IIAC men’s tennis Coach of the Year.

Klein, the first Luther men’s tennis player to earn Conference MVP honors since Chris Rovn in 1995, posted a 36-18 record during the season including an 18-9 singles mark and an 18-9 doubles mark. He became the first non-Coe player since 1998 to win the Flight A singles title, defeating defending Champion and top-seeded Ryan Yao in the Championship match. He also teamed with Reid Mason to finish third in Flight A doubles. Klein won 11 of his final 12 singles matches and was tied for ninth among Conference players with 15 or more decisions with a.667 singles winning percentage. His .562 winning percentage at #1 singles (9-7) was third among players with 15 or more decisions at the position. Klein and Mason posted an 18-8 record as a team and ranked third in the Conference with a .692 winning percentage.

Huinker led the Norse to an 18-13 dual meet record including a 7-1 mark in the Iowa Conference and a runner-up finish in the Conference Team Tournament for the fourth time in five years. He coached two champions and two runners-up in the Conference Individual Tournament. Huinker was also named Coach of the Year in 2002.

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