Spartan Quartet Earn A-Sun Honors
4/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Four different USC Upstate men's tennis players were honored by the Atlantic Sun after solid seasons on the courts, the conference office in Macon, Ga., announced today. Ramiro Blanco highlighted the Spartan honorees as a First-Team All-Conference selection.
Matias Di Pasquale (Singles No. 3) and Marco Linconir (Singles No. 5) were honored as second team members, while Gonzalo Blanco earned a spot on the conference's All-Freshmen Team.
"First and foremost, I am proud of the effort that the entire team gave throughout the year," said head coach Oliver Trittenwein. "This is a tremendous honor for each of our athletes and it shows that their hard work and determination paid off. I am also proud of the leadership that our upperclassmen showed all season long as they were the driving force behind a strong conference season."
Ramiro Blanco earned a spot on the A-Sun First-Team after posting a 15-6 singles record and was 9-1 in singles action during the conference season. Blanco posted four consecutive singles victories from Feb. 16 to Feb. 23. His win streak was snapped by ETSU's Jesus Bandres (5-7, 6-2, 5-7) on Feb. 26.
After dropping the three-set thriller to Bandres, Blanco ran the table the rest of the way going a perfect 10-0 down the stretch. The junior's final five wins came in straight sets.
Sophomore Matias Di Pasquale earned second-team honors after wrapping up 2011 with a 14-7 mark in singles action. Di Pasquale opened the season with a 1-4 mark, with the victory coming at the ITA Kick-off against Clemson's Cal Hilsman (2-6, 6-4, 7-5). The first-year Spartan lost just twice over the final 15 matches of the season.
Marco Linconir joined Di Pasquale on the A-Sun's Second-Team after a successful senior campaign. Linconir finished 2011 with an 11-10 singles record but was nearly flawless in A-Sun play as he finished 8-1. His lone A-Sun loss of the season came in the conference opener against ETSU's Juan Ramirez.
The final Spartan to earn A-Sun honors was Spartan rookie Gonzalo Blanco. Blanco, playing primarily at singles position number four, closed out his freshman campaign with nine victories in his final 15 matches. The All-Freshman team selection teamed with Edgar Rodriguez at doubles number two for most of the season and the duo finished with a 9-6 record.
Men's All-Conference
Tennis Player of the Year
*Davy Sum, Campbell
*Unanimous Selection
Freshman of the Year
Fernando Guillen, Campbell
Coach of the Year
Igal Buberman, UNF
First Team
* Davy Sum, Campbell
* Moritz Buerchner, UNF
* Hleb Maslau, UNF
Ramiro Blanco, USC Upstate
Sander Gille, ETSU
Oliver Strecker, Lipscomb
Jesus Bandres, ETSU
Grega Teraz, ETSU
Njal Stene, Stetson
*Unanimous Selection
** A tie in voting ended with nine student-athletes being named to first team
Second Team
Singles
No. 1 Rodrigo Amaral, Belmont
No. 2 Cesare Gallo, Stetson
No. 3 Matias Di Pasquale, USC Upstate
No. 4 Dominik Kaniewski, Campbell
No. 5 Marco Linconir, USC Upstate
No. 6 Roger Ordeig, ETSU
Doubles
No. 1 Davy Sum/Dominik Kaniewski, Campbell
No. 2 Hleb Maslau/Daniel Sotomarino, UNF
No. 3 Pedro Davisson/Leonardo Nahar, UNF
All-Freshman Team
* Fernando Guillen, Campbell
David Salazar, Lipscomb
Roger Ordeig, ETSU
Guilherme Frias, Mercer
Pedro Davisson, UNF
Gonzalo Blanco, USC Upstate
Ryan Spencer, Kennesaw State
Larry Condez, Jacksonville
Beauregard Treyz, UNF
*Unanimous Selection
** A tie in voting ended with nine student-athletes being named to all-freshman team
