ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The South Atlantic Conference announced its men's tennis All-Conference teams and postseason award winners on Wednesday, with two members of Tusculum University recognized by the league's 11 head coaches.
Junior Yago Fernandez was named second-team All-SAC in singles and sophomore David Akinpetide was selected honorable mention in singles for the Pioneers. The duo helped Tusculum to a 13-6 overall record and a 7-3 mark in conference matches, good for fourth place in the final SAC standings.
Fernandez was named second-team All-Conference in singles for the second time in his career and received All-SAC status for the fourth time in three seasons at Tusculum (twice in singles, twice in doubles). The Aviles, Spain native led the Pioneers with a 12-5 record in dual matches and was 8-2 in SAC contests. Fernandez was 1-0 at flight one, 3-0 at flight two and 4-2 at flight three in SAC contests, with a 3-1 record in three-set matches. He reached as high as 70th in the ITA Division II men's singles rankings during the season, and had a 4-1 record while ranked. Overall in singles action, Fernandez had an 18-7 record during the 2018-19 season and is 38-22 in his Pioneer career.
Akinpetide had a 4-11 overall record for the Pioneers this season and went 1-8 in conference matches, primarily at flight one. The Chelles, France native faced five nationally-ranked opponents during the season and went 2-3, including victories over 5th-ranked Renato Lima of Indianapolis on Feb. 15 and 23rd-ranked Ignacio Bidegain of Anderson on March 2 in straight sets.
Edison Ambarzumjan of Newberry was named SAC Player of the Year, with Freshman of the Year honors going to Tolunay Sumer of Wingate. Michael Cabana of Wingate was honored as Coach of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to the outright SAC Championship.
2019 SAC Men's Tennis Conference
First Team Doubles
Daniel Belsito / Josep Canyadell, Wingate
Agustin Aran Martin / Julian Bosch, Queens
Spencer Brown / Adam Kush, Anderson
Second Team Doubles
Paolo Bompieri / Joel Dunlap, Queens
Edison Ambarzumjan / Enrico Haas, Newberry
Enrico Giacomini / Roy Stepanov, Wingate
Honorable Mention Doubles
Mauricio Hernandez / Shane O'Dea, Lenoir-Rhyne
Paul Lenz / Rhodri Atkinson, Lenoir-Rhyne
Luca Picci / Ryen Reid, Catawba
Sebastian Muem / Kasper Rolfsen, Queens
First Team Singles
Daniel Belsito, Wingate
Edison Ambarzumjan, Newberry
Agustin Aran Martin, Queens
Josep Canyadell, Wingate
Ignacio Bidegain, Anderson
Tolunay Sumer, Wingate
Second Team Singles
Matt Jones, Wingate
Melwin Krall, Coker
Yago Fernandez, Tusculum
Ryen Reid, Catawba
Mathias Degardin, Queens
Paolo Bompieri, Queens
Honorable Mention Singles
Rhodri Atkinson, Lenoir-Rhyne
Luca Picci, Catawba
Tales Miranda, Lenoir-Rhyne
David Segarra, Lincoln Memorial
David Akinpetide, Tusculum
Hamed Gandouz, Lenoir-Rhyne
Player of the Year: Edison Ambarzumjan, Newberry
Freshman of the Year: Tolunay Sumer, Wingate
Coach of the Year: Michael Cabana, Wingate