Markus Schultz, who capped his senior campaign, finishing the 2015-16 season ranked 10th in the NCAA Division I Men's Northeast Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), has joined the NJIT Tennis Staff as a Student Assistant Coach for the 2016-17 season.
Schultz, who is from the Hagersten district of Stockholm, Sweden, completed his college playing career in April 2016 after distinguishing himself throughout his four years at NJIT.
He capped his senior season as one of eight players named to the All-Atlantic Sun Conference first team, as well as receiving ASUN All-Academic recognition (3.36 GPA majoring in mathematical sciences) following NJIT's first season as a member of the conference.
Schultz earns his third consecutive season-end regional ranking from the ITA. As a freshman, he finished the 2012-13 season ranked 18th, becoming the first NJIT tennis player to achieve a regional ranking since the Highlanders began NCAA Division I competition in 2006-07 and concluded the 2014-15 season ranked 20th.
"As always, we're extremely proud of Markus (Schultz) and all that he has accomplished in his four years at NJIT," head coach
Ira Miller commented. "He was a team leader who got better every year. I couldn't be happier to see him close out his collegiate career with the full recognition he deserves."
NJIT's #1 men's tennis player, Schultz, was most-recently recognized as the ninth-best Swedish men's player in all of college tennis, according to the
Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) system, the system's website declared in a late May article entitled
"Elite of College Tennis: The Swedes"; "
The 10 Hottest Swedish Men and Women on Campuses Now".
In 2015, Schultz was ranked 12th in the Preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Men's Northeast Region, advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2015 USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championships and finished the 2015-16 season with a 10-6 overall mark at first singles and 9-6 at first doubles with classmate
Arnaud Holl.
As a junior facing an Independent schedule, Schultz notched a 16-6 overall record (13-3 at first singles) and 11-8 in doubles competition (10-5 at first doubles). He captured the Tiger Draw Consolation Title at the 46th Annual Farnsworth Ivy Plus Tournament hosted by Princeton.
During his sophomore campaign, Schultz advanced to the Round of 16 at 2013 USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championships, the furthest any NJIT tennis player has advanced at the ITA tournament. Â He had a 23-9 overall record (13-5 at first singles) and finished 20-8 in doubles competition (13-4 in the second spot and 2-0 in the third).
In his first season as a Highlander, Schultz, who joined the tennis team in January 2013, finished the 2012-13 season ranked 18th in the Northeast Region by the ITA; becoming the first NJIT student-athlete to be ranked by the ITA since the Highlanders became a NCAA Division I in 2006-07. He held a 15-match singles win streak (Jan. 26 to Mar. 21), playing the final six matches at first singles.
In doubles competition, Schultz held a 14-match win streak (Jan. 27 to April 14) with three unfinished matches, at second doubles with teammate Holger Norregaard.
Schultz finished with a 20-1 overall record (12-1 at first singles, 5-0 at second singles, 3-0 at third) and 9-2 at second doubles. He was named NJIT's Male Newcomer of the Year, a program-wide award.Â
The 20 wins for Schultz in singles competition was the highest individual win total since the Highlanders started competing against a Division I schedule (2006-07 first season), topping the old record of 18 wins, set by Steve Erickson in 2008-09 for NJIT.
In making this year's UTR Top 10 among Swedish players in college tennis, Schultz joined an accomplished list headed by Cal's Andre Goransson, who is one of the top players in the elite Pac-12 Conference, having earned unanimous All-Pac-12 first team in 2015. The Goransson-led Bears are in the 2016 Division I national semifinals after upending #4 TCU and #5 Ohio State in succession.
Goransson is one of three Cal players to make the Top 10 list of Swedish men, which also includes two players from Ole Miss, one from Stanford, and another one each from Rice, UNLV, and LSU in addition to NJIT's Schultz.
