Friends, teammates and roommates: Van Dijk and Matej Panik

Sophomores Daan Van Dijk and Matej Panik have served an amazing season for the men’s tennis team. The pair became the first doubles team to ever compete in the ITA Fall National Championship last November, and the two have gained quite a following. 

Van Dijk knew when he came to MSU that the tennis program was a perfect match for him. Originally from the Netherlands, Van Dijk toured other universities, but MSU had everything he was looking for. “I just really liked this team, and once I decided to come here I just started looking at majors and financial engineering really interested me,” he said. Van Dijk arrived in Bozeman in the spring of 2021. Since arriving on campus, Van Dijk has been a star for the tennis team earning, Big Sky Tennis Player of the Week honors on Feb. 1. “It’s great, my first one ever. It gives me confidence of course,” he said.

“We have a lot of [fans] now, which I really like because we didn’t have many supporters last spring,” he commented, nodding briefly to the COVID-19 pandemic, “the support, in general, is great.”

Panik, originally from the Czech Republic, transferred from Hawaii Pacific just weeks prior to the pair’s  invite to the ITA Fall National Championship. Panik is heading into his first spring season as a Bobcat. Only knowing each other for a few weeks, but nevertheless friends off the court, the two were suprised by their success.

“When we got the info we were shocked, our third tournament together and we were making MSU history. It felt surreal, we knew right off the bat we were going to be a very good team but I didn’t expect we would have success right off the bat like this,” Panik said. He mentioned that being roommates allowed the two to discuss strategy at home as they ate their weekly pancakes that Panik has the habit of making.

Panik said they average more than 80 spectators each match, a great turnout for the team. However, he continued to urge fans to come and support them in March. “We just wanted to invite people to come and watch our conference play here in March. We want to see the place packed,” Panik said.

 The next match in Bozeman is scheduled for March 27, when the team takes on Weber State. To stay up to date on the team’s matches prior to the start of Big Sky Conference play, visit MSUBobcats.com.