PBC YEARBOOK
Saint Leo got a late break at No. 1 doubles to lift top-ranked Alberto
Barroso-Campos and Alex Thieler to an 8-6 win over No. 10-ranked
Jan Porteset and Alberto Caceres Casas. Francisco Aparicio and Oskar
Nurmio also won, 8-6,
at No. 3 doubles over
the Pirates’ Luca Cerin
and Marek Pesicka.
The Pirates drew
even at 2-2 as Porteset
defeated Guillaume
Vanelven, 6-4, 6-4, at
No. 5 singles, but the
Lions then won three
to clinch the match.
No. 15-ranked Theiler
beat No. 21-ranked
Lucak, 6-1, 6-4, at
No. 2 singles, then
No. 4-ranked Barroso-Campos downed
No. 5-ranked Gor, 6-3,
6-2. No. 19-ranked
Panyushkin clinched
the match with a 4-6,
6-4, 6-4 win over Cerin
at No. 3 singles.
2016 Men’s Tennis
Postseason Awards
PBC Elite 15 Award Presented by GradesFirst
Jannik Roettlingsberger, Francis Marion
ITA Southeast Region Awards
Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year:
Brett Simpson, Lander University
ITA Assistant Coach of the Year:
Rodrigo Pueblo, Flagler College
ITA Most Improved Player (Senior):
Jannick Kumbier, Georgia College
ITA Senior Player of the Year:
Pablo Gor, Armstrong State University
ITA Rookie of the Year:
Kiranpal Pannu, Columbus State University
ITA Player to Watch:
Richard Ashforth, Francis Marion University
ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship
Award:
Otakar Lucak, Armstrong State University
The Pirates lose three seniors - Gor, Lucak and Marek Pesicka - off
of this season’s squad that has made five consecutive trips to the NCAA
Semifinals. Armstrong State returns four players for 2017.
2
5
m history and the
Pirates return seven
players for the 2015-16
season.
FMU’s Ashforth
Named ITA National Player to Watch;
Regional Awards
Presented
TEMPE, ARIZ – Francis
Marion University
junior Richard Ashforth
has been named the
National Men’s Tennis
Player to Watch for 2017
as the Intercollegiate
Tennis Association (ITA)
announced its 2015-16
Division II regional and national award winners recently at the 2016
NCAA Division II Tennis Championships in Denver, Colorado. Ashforth
was the only PBC tennis players, male or female, to win a national
award, but PBC players dominated the regional honors.
Ashforth posted a 14-8 singles record this past season, all at the
No. 1 position, and is ranked 24th nationally and seventh regionally.
In doubles competition, he was 18-7 playing at the No.1 spot and is
ranked eighth regionally. Situated in the tough Peach Belt Conference,
his season marks included 3-4 and 4-1 records respectively in singles
and doubles against nationally ranked opponents.
A native of Durban, South Africa, Ashforth earned first-team
All-Conference honors for singles and was a second-team All-Conference selection for doubles. He helped guide the Patriots team to a No.26
national ranking, an appearance in the Division II national tournament,
and a 15-10 record – which represented a six-win improvement over
the 2015 campaign.
He owns career records of 42-13 in singles and 38-22 in doubles.
A three-time All-Conference selection as well as being named
the PBC’s Freshman of the Year for 2014, he garnered ITA All-American
singles honors in 2015.
Y
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14 PBC Men’s Tennis Players Named ITA All-Americans
TEMPE, ARIZ -- Fourteen Peach Belt Conference men’s tennis players
2015-16
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