ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Four Creighton men's tennis players have been named to the 2011 MVC Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Team, as announced at the MVC Tournament pre-tournament banquet on Thursday.  Kyle Obermeier, Billy Paluch, Gabe Nagy and JT Christian all earned first team honors for their work in the classroom and on the tennis court this season.

A native of North Platte, Neb., Obermeier leads the team with 14 singles wins this year, including a 7-3 record in tournaments.  The junior has played all of his individual matches at the No. 3 spot this spring, holding a 7-9 record.  Obermeier has teamed up primarily with teammate Sean Mathison  in doubles, playing at the No. 2 an No. 3 spots for the Jays.  The duo is 7-10 overall this season, with a 3-1 record at the No. 3 spot.  Obermeier also teamed up with Nagy in tournaments, as the pair was a perfect 3-0.  A business major, Obermeier holds a 3.72 cumulative gpa.  He is honored on the academic team for the first time in his Bluejay career.

Creighton's No. 1 singles player all season, Paluch holds a 13-14 overall record and is 6-10 in dual meets this spring.  The Rapid City, S.D. native has teamed up with Christian to put together an impressive doubles record.  While playing No. 1 doubles, the two are 14-10, including a 9-7 record this spring in dual meets.  Paluch, who teamed up with Christian last season to set a school record of 21 wins in doubles, holds a 3.81 cumulative grade point average in business.

A 2010 first team All-MVC Scholar Athlete honoree, Nagy compiled an 11-11 overall record this year.  The junior went 4-5 in tournament play and and 7-9 in dual's this spring.  Nagy is 3-1 when playing at No. 4 singles and 4-8 at No. 5.  He has teamed up with Ryan Norman to win nine matches in doubles play, including being the only Bluejay duo with two wins in MVC play (2-3).  Nagy also paired with Obermeier to go 3-0 in doubles competition in tournaments.  A native of Manhattan, Kan., Nagy holds a 3.79 gpa as a chemistry/pre-med major.

Christian has been a strong hold for the Jays at the No. 2 singles position, holding a 7-9 record this Spring and a 10-13 record overall this season.  The junior exercise science major is the doubles partner of Paluch, as they have combined for a season high 14 wins, including 9-7 this spring and 5-3 in tournament play.  Christian earned a spot on the All-Select squad of the 2010 MVC All-Conference Team and was also named MVC Player of the Week on April 6 of last season.  He has a 3.66 gpa in exercise science.

The Jays, who received the sixth seed with a7-9 overall record, 0-5 in the MVC, open the MVC Tournament tomorrow with a first round match against Wichita State.  The match is set to start at 1:00 pm.  Check into www.gocreighton.com for all the results.