April 22, 2010

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Samford men's tennis players Zac Dunkle and Carson Kadi were both honored by the Southern Conference on Thursday as the league office released its annual postseason awards. Dunkle received the conference's all-freshman team honors, while Dunkle and Kadi both garnered second-team accolades.

Dunkle, Samford's highly touted freshman from Atlanta, Ga., was one of only six players to receive all-freshman honors. The Bulldogs' No. 2 singles player finished the season with a 13-8 overall record and a stellar 7-3 mark in conference play. Dunkle also garnered Second-Team SoCon singles honors after compiling a 7-2 record on court No. 2 this season.

Kadi, only a sophomore, tallied his second straight SoCon postseason honor Thursday. A native of New Orleans, La., Samford's speedy No. 1 singles player received second-team all-conference accolades for his performance at the Bulldogs' top spot in the lineup. Kadi finished 7-3 in SoCon play this year, including a 5-4 overall mark at the No. 1 singles position.

Last season, Kadi was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team after tallying a 17-6 dual-match record.

College of Charleston's Lukas Koncilia was named the SoCon Player of the Year Thursday. Chattanooga's Roberto Vieira was named the conference's Freshman of the Year, while Elon's Philip Nemec earned the league's Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award.

College of Charleston head coach Jay Bruner was named the Coach of the Year. Postseason balloting was conducted by the league's head coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.

Koncilia posted a 15-4 mark at No. 1 singles for the Cougars this spring, including a 9-1 record in conference matches. A winner in each of his last eight singles matches, Koncilia also was named first team all-conference. In addition, the pairing of Koncilia and Tom Delme earned first team all-conference honors in doubles competition.

Bruner guided College of Charleston to the conference's regular season championship as the Cougars went 10-0 in league play and posted a record of 16-3 overall this spring after finishing 11-14 a season ago.

Elon's Nemec earned the Sportsmanship Award after finishing 7-3 in conference matches at No. 1 singles for the Phoenix. Nemec also earned first team all-conference honors.

In addition to Nemec, Koncilia's teammate, Mickael Trintignac, was also named to the league's all conference first team. They were joined by Furman's Sawyer Duncan, UNC Greensboro's Orcun Seyrek and Chattanooga's Roberto Vieira.

Appalachian State's tandem of Trent Constance and Peter Jacobs was named first team all-conference. They finished with a league-high 15 victories at No. 1 doubles and were 9-1 in conference play.

Due to a tie in the voting, four doubles teams earned first team accolades. The Appalachian State pair was joined by Davidson's Eric Noble and Joe Schafer, UNC Greensboro's Orcun Seyrek and Arsel Kumdereli and College of Charleston's Koncilia and Delme.

With one of the youngest teams in the talent-laden SoCon this season, all six of Samford's starting players will return for the 2011 campaign.

2010 SoCon Men's Tennis Postseason Awards

First Team - Singles
Lukas Koncilia, College of Charleston
Mickael Trintignac, College of Charleston
Philip Nemec, Elon
Sawyer Duncan, Furman
Orcun Seyrek, UNC Greensboro
Roberto Vieira, Chattanooga

First Team - Doubles
Trent Constance/Peter Jacobs, Appalachian State
Tom Delme/Lukas Koncilia, College of Charleston
Joe Schafer/Eric Noble, Davidson
Orcun Seyrek/Arsel Kumdereli, UNC Greensboro

Second Team - Singles (by position)
No. 1 - Carson Kadi, Samford
No. 2 - Zac Dunkle, Samford
No. 3 - Carl Lundberg, Furman
No. 4 - Mickael Boyer, College of Charleston
No. 5 - Calum Gee, Davidson
No. 6 - Thomas Darling, Elon

Second Team - Doubles (by position)
No. 1 - Alberto Diaz/Yufo Sutantio, The Citadel
No. 2 - Philip Nemec/Cody Stauffer-MacDowell, Elon
No. 3 - Mickael Boyer/Mickael Trintignac, CofC

All-Freshman Team
David Orces, The Citadel
Joe Schafer, Davidson
Carl Lundberg, Furman
Juan Manuel Melian Puigventos, Georgia Southern
Zac Dunkle, Samford
Roberto Vieira, Chattanooga

Player of the Year
Lukas Koncilia, College of Charleston

Freshman of the Year
Roberto Vieira, Chattanooga

Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Philip Nemec, Elon

Coach of the Year
Jay Bruner, College of Charleston