The South Atlantic Conference Announces Men's Tennis Annual Awards
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSac.com) – Queen's Jules Athalis was voted the 2017 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year, while teammate Paolo Bompieri was voted the League's Freshman of the Year. In addition, Queen's mentor Billy Boykin was tabbed the Coach of the Year, the League announced today.
Athalis, a senior from Aix en Provence, France, posted a 10-2 overall record to go along with a 7-1 South Atlantic Conference record at the No. 1 flight. He earned AstroTurf SAC Player of the Week honors twice this season and posted a record of 2-1 against Division I competition. He is currently on a five-match winning streak. In doubles action, Athalis and his partners combined to go 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the South Atlantic Conference. His tandems posted a win over the No. 42 ranked pair in the country and went 2-0 against Division I foes.
Bompieri, a No. 2 singles player from Peschiera Verona, Italy, 11-3 overall and 9-1 in South Atlantic Conference matches primarily at the No. 2 flight. He went 3-0 at the No. 1 flight on the year and picked up a win against League foe Lincoln Memorial. He is currently riding a six-match winning streak in singles action. He led his doubles team to a perfect D-II record of 10-0, including an 8-0 mark in SAC play.
Boykin guided his Royals to their first-ever South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship with an 11-0 record in South Atlantic Conference play. Overall, the Royals finished the 2017 campaign with a 14-1 overall record. The defending SAC tournament champions, Queens picked up a win over Division I North Carolina A&T on April 12th.
Joining Athalis on the first team singles squad were teammate Bompieri, Filippo Pezzoli of Wingate, Edison Ambarzumjan of Newberry, Anderson's Ignacio Bidegain and Joao Pedro Oliveira of Carson-Newman.
The first team doubles honorees were Josh DuToit and Daniel Belsito from Wingate, Nicolas Ascarrunz and Jeffery Dayton from Anderson, Bompier and Andor Vas from Queens and Carson-Newman's Pedro Oliveira and Gabriel Dabdab.
2017 SAC Men's Tennis Year Honors
First Team Doubles
Josh DuToit/Daniel Belsito, Wingate
Nicolas Ascarrunz/Jeffrey Dayton Anderson
PaoloBompieri/Andor Vas, Queens (T)
Joao Pedro Oliveira/Gabriel Dabdab, Carson-Newman (T)
Second Team Doubles
Tyler Schofer/Amir Zari, Wingate (T)
Sebastian Meum/Giovanni Setti, Queens (T)
Edison Ambarzumjan/Joran Monosky, Newberry (T)
Xavier Marti/Josh Peress, Lincoln Memorial (T)
Honorable Mention Doubles
Yago Fernandez/David Siegle, Tusculum
First Team Singles
Jules Athalis, Queens
Filippo Pezzoli, Wingate
Edison Ambarzumjan, Newberry
Ignacio Bidegain, Anderson
Joao Pedro Oliveira, Carson-Newman
Paolo Bompieri, Queens
Second Team Singles
Daniel Belsito, Wingate
Xavier Marti, Lincoln Memorial
Tomas Kmetko, Tusculum
Hamed Gandouz, Lenoir-Rhyne
Theo Dessacs, Wingate
Yago Fernandez, Tusculum (T)
Jordan Monosky, Newberry (T)
Honorable Mention Singles
Agustin Aran Martin, Queens
Nicolas Ascarrunz, Anderson
Juan Carracedo, Anderson
Michael Patch, Catawba
Tomas Hons, Lenoir-Rhyne
Player of the Year
Jules Athalis, Queens
Freshman of the Year
Paolo Bompieri, Queens
Coach of the Year
Billy Boykin, Queens