Atlantic Sun Conference

A-Sun Postseason Mens Tennis Awards Announced

4/14/2010 12:00:00 AM

MACON, Ga. – The Atlantic Sun Conference announced its 2010 men’s tennis awards and all-conference teams Wednesday. Falling just short of the regular season title, ETSU ended the campaign with the No. 1 seed in the A-Sun Championship and two players earning First-Team All-Atlantic Team honors, headlined by Player of the Year Sander Gille.

Gille earned Player of the Year honors after leading the Buccaneers with a 14-6 dual match record. The sophomore business major posted wins against players from eight nationally ranked teams and also led ETSU in doubles wins. Gille stands unbeaten in A-Sun action (10-0), having lost only one set in league play the entire season. The Keerbergen, Belgium native also competed in the prestigious ITA All-American last fall.

Grega Teraz joined Gille with First-Team All-Atlantic Sun team accolades after collecting nine wins against players from nationally ranked teams. Teraz’s highest ranked win came against No. 26 Tennessee’s Boris Conkic, to go along with a doubles victory against No. 73 Middle Tennessee State’s duo of Peers/Mello. The junior from Mojstrana, Slovenia made the Round of 16 in the prestigious Southern Intercollegiate, in addition to the quarterfinals of ITA Regionals in singles and doubles. Teraz also earned two Player of the Week honors this season on Feb. 10 and March 10.

The A-Sun Freshman of the Year in UNF’s Daniel Sotomarino had a spectacular rookie season with the Ospreys in which he recorded a 17-5 record in doubles and an 11-4 mark in duals. The top performer also won his flight at the Florida State Invitational. USC Upstate head coach Alessandro De Marzo earned Coach of the Year accolades and mentored two all-conference performers. De Marzo led the squad to an overall tally of 18-5, including an undefeated conference season on the way to the A-Sun title. The team earned the first league men’s title in any sport for the Spartans.

USC Upstate’s Edgar Rodriguez earned First-Team All-Atlantic Sun honors after posting a 7-1 record at No. 1 singles in conference matches, in addition to a 17-6 doubles mark (8-1 A-Sun) with partner Ramiro Blanco. The sophomore from Bogota, Colombia also had a productive fall, reaching the round of 32 at the Southern Intercollegiates and the qualifying round at the ITA All-American Championships.

Fellow Spartan Javier Tori also earned postseason accolades after the senior posted a 22-5 overall record and a 20-2 dual match mark. Tori has won 15 straight singles matches and went a perfect 9-0 in A-Sun play. The Lima, Peru native set an A-Sun record with three Player of the Week awards in a season on March 3, March 17 and March 24, raising his career total to five. The senior Spartan also holds school records for singles (85) and doubles (80) wins.

Campbell’s representation on the First-Team All-Atlantic Sun squad comes courtesy o f Davy Sum. The junior started out the dual season with 11 straight singles victories and ranked as high as No. 56 in doubles play along with partner Dominik Kaniewski. Sum has tallied a 25-6 record in overall singles play, including going 17-4 at No. 1 singles and 15-4 in No. 1 doubles. The business administration major opened the fall season with a trip to the “A” Flight finals of the UNCW Invitational, won the individual title at the Elon Fall Invitational by winning three matches on the weekend and advanced to the final 16 of the ITA Carolinas Regional.

Stetson’s representation on the team comes courtesy of Maksim Levanovich. The Minsk, Belarus native led the Hatters charge while compiling a 19-3 overall record and going 9-1 in A-Sun matches, including a perfect 10-0 overall mark when playing No. 2 singles. Levanovich also tallied an outstanding doubles record at 17-3 overall and 9-1 against A-Sun opponents with partner Cesare Gallo.

UNF sophomore Moritz Buerchner picked up First-Team All-Atlantic Sun honors for the Ospreys after a spectacular regular season in which he won his flight at the Georgia Southern Invitational during the fall and tallied a 15-11 mark overall during regular season play, including a 9-4 record at No. 1 singles. The Haimhausen, Germany native also owns a 14-11 doubles record, including a 10-8 tally in duals. Also with partner Leonardo Nahar, primarily at No. 3, the duo has posted a 7-3 record.

UNF’s River City Rumble foe in Jacksonville’s Victor Vaz rounds out the first team. Vaz paced the Dolphins during regular season play in the No. 1 position for all but two matches. At the start of conference play, the Campinas, Brazil native won eight matches in a row, including victories versus such league foes in FGCU, Belmont, Lipscomb, Mercer and Kennesaw State. Nine of Vaz’s 15 wins this season have come in straight sets.

The 2010 Atlantic Sun Men’s Tennis Championship begins Thursday with a matchup between No. 4 C ampbell and No. 5 Jacksonville at 9 a.m. No. 3 UNF and No. 6 Belmont will face each other in a match scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.