As announced by the Big South Conference this evening, Liberty men's tennis players Siim Tuus and Giancarlo Lemmi have each received conference honors for the 2011 tennis season.  Tuus earned his second appearance on the all-conference singles team, while Lemmi was named to the all-academic team for the first time.  The yearly awards are voted on by Big South tennis coaches.

Playing at No. 1 singles in all but one match, Tuus, a sophomore, followed up his 2010 Big South Freshman of the Year campaign by notching 11 victories.  The total upped his wins total from last season by four.  In conference matches, Tuus posted a 3-3 record.  The highlight of the Rakvere, Estonia, native's season came in matches from February 27 through March 16, where Tuus won five-straight matches to assist in the Flames' five-match win streak.  This included Liberty's conference victory over Presbyterian College as well as three wins on the team's spring break trip.

Meanwhile, Lemmi's all-academic nod is the first of his career.  This season, the junior is 12-8 in singles play, as he has become Liberty's all-time wins leader with 55 victories.  In doubles, he has also gone 12-8, while teaming with freshman Shea Thomas for 10 of those wins.  In the classroom, Lemmi holds a 3.83 GPA in physical education.

Winthrop's Sergey Belov was named Player of the Year, while teammate Guy Kubi earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.  Radford picked up the remaining individual awards, as Nicholas Sayer was voted Freshman of the Year and head coach Mike Anderson was voted Coach of the Year for the second-straight season.

The 2011 Big South Men's Tennis Championship begins on Thursday, beginning at 10 a.m. in Rock Hill, S.C. Three matches will be played the opening day, while the event wraps up Saturday, with the championship match being at 1 p.m.  Liberty has received the No. 6 seed and faces No. 3 seeded Coastal Carolina at 1 p.m., Thursday.  A full preview of the event is available here.

2011 Big South Conference Men's Tennis Award Winners

All-Academic Team
Guy Kubi, Winthrop
Andrew Carter, Gardner-Webb
Giancarlo Lemmi, Liberty 
Yusuke Kusuda, Coastal Carolina
Thomas Rees, UNC Asheville
Igor Ogrizek, Radford
Andrew Brigham, Presbyterian College

Men's Tennis Flight Winners
No. 1 Singles – Sergey Belov, Winthrop                                                        
No. 2 Singles – Yusuke Kusuda, Coastal Carolina                                        
No. 3 Singles – Liran Levy, Winthrop                                                             
No. 4 Singles – Igor Ogrizek, Radford                                                             
No. 5 Singles – Stijn Meulemans, Radford
No. 6 Singles – Yuta Hirokawa, Winthrop                                                      

No. 1 Doubles – Ivan Salec/Thomas Dehaen, Radford                
No. 2 Doubles – Stijn Meulemans/Igor Ogrizek, Radford                            
No. 3 Doubles – Korhan Ates/Adam Knutsson-Sunblad, Gardner-Webb

All-Conference Singles
Sergey Belov, Winthrop
Ivan Salec, Radford
Matt Gordon, Coastal Carolina
Siim Tuus, Liberty
Nicholas Sayer, Radford
Julien Belair, Gardner-Webb
Matt Waissen, UNC Asheville
Dejon Bivens, Winthrop (tie)
Adrian Langeard, UNC Asheville (tie)

All-Conference Doubles
Ivan Salec/Thomas Dehaen, Radford
Matt Gordon/Peter Billingham, Coastal Carolina
Sergey Belov/Liran Levy, Winthrop
Igor Ogrizek, Stijn Meulemans, Radford

Player of the Year
Sergey Belov, Winthrop

Freshman of the Year
Nicholas Sayer, Radford

Scholar Athlete of the Year
Guy Kubi, Winthrop

Coach of the Year
Mike Anderson, Radford