Siim Tuus (L) and Giancarlo Lemmi (R) were each honored with Big South awards, which were presented at a ceremony in Rock Hill, S.C., Wednesday evening.
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
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