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MACOMB, Ill. - Head coach Chris Kane announced the signing of Bradley
Holt of Homewood, Illinois, Maximilian Cederkall of Huddinge, Sweden,
and Christoph Haertel of Wolfenbuttel, Germany on Wednesday (April 25). The trio will join the Leathernecks on the court in 2012-13.
Hometown: Homewood, Ill.
High School: Homewood-Flossmoor
Bradley Holt, a two-time All State selection from Homewood-Flossmoor High School, is just the second TennisRecruiting.net four-start recruit to sign in Western Illinois tennis history.
Holt was the No. 174 ranked recruit in the United States, as compiled by Tennis Recruiting.net. When the strength of schedule of the tough Chicago-region was factored in, Tennis Recruiting.net ranked Holt as the No. 107 tennis player in the United States. That same recruiting organization found Holt to be the No. 10 player in Illinois and the No. 20 player in the six Midwestern states.
Head Coach Chris Kane: "We expect Brad to come in and play towards the top or in the middle of our lineup. He has a complete all-around game. He can hit the ball hard from the baseline, yet stay consistent. Brad has an effective serve that he can move around, and his volley is his most-improved stroke as the result of many hours of hard work. For a 6'2" guy, Brad covers the court very well with his long strides, and he's also an excellent doubles
player. Obviously, we're thrilled to have him become a Leatherneck."
Maximilian Cederkall
Hometown: Huddinge, Sweden
High School: Sjodalsgymnasiet
Maximilian Cederkall has consistently been a top-50 player
in Sweden, tallying wins
over some outstanding opponents. In 2010, he earned a No. 66 National Ranking (Sweden) and a No. 16 Regional Ranking.
Cederkall also excels off the tennis court earning a cumulative grade point average of 3.8 in high school. His SAT score was also particularly high.
Head Coach Chris Kane: "Max is one of
those players you hate to play. Although he hits the ball with pace,
what I like is that he hardly misses. Believe me, that still works well
in college. On his videos, he hardly missed a shot. He covered his
opponents' wide effective shots as well as any player I can remember. He
covers the court tremendously well and is an extremely hard worker.
His consistency and hustle often makes his opponent hit two or three
extra shots just to win a point. That's usually a winning formula. I
think Max will be a middle of the lineup guy for us, but he'll have a
lot of competition from our returning players in order to earn such a
spot. He's a tough out, as his opponents will have to beat Max, Max
won't beat himself."
Christoph Haertel
Hometown: Wolfenbuttel, Germany
High School: Quincy
Christoph
Haertel is a top competitor from the junior ranks in Germany. Haertel spent one year of
high school at Quincy in Illinois as a foreign exchange
student. While at Quincy, Haertel was selected to the
Illinois High School All-State team.
Haertel also excels in the classroom and has enrolled in Pre-Professional Studies
with the expectation of becoming a dentist.
Head Coach Chris Kane: "Christoph first caught our
eye when he was a high school foreign exchange student about an hour
away from the Western Illinois campus. In the Illinois High School State
Tournament that year, Christoph took the eventual Illinois State
Champion, Blake Bazernik, now a star at Vanderbilt, to a terrific and
tough three-set match. It was then that Christoph showed he could
compete against the best. He has an interesting game.
Usually 6'5" guys such as Christoph hit a lot of scorching winners and
make more errors trying to hit those winners. Christoph, a lefty, really
has a different game. Though he hits the ball hard, he's a tremendously
intelligent player on the court. He makes low-risk/high reward plays.
He uses angles trmendously and has a topspin forehand short that drives
players into the fence. He will be patient. He has great touch on drop
shots and volleys. On the other hand, he gets a number of free points
with his big lefty serve. We have a lot to work with."
The Leathernecks open the 2012-13 season on Saturday,
January 19, 2013 with a battle against national-power and head coach Chris Kane's alma mater, Notre Dame.
