SPARTANBURG, S.C. - College of Charleston men's tennis head coach Jay Bruner was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year as the league announced its postseason awards on Tuesday.
Bruner led the Cougars to at least a share of the conference's regular-season championship title for the third-straight year. CofC went 9-1 in conference matches and shared the regular-season crown with Samford. The Cougars went 15-4 overall this spring and four of his Cougars earned postseason honors. It marked the second time in three years Bruner has won the award, as he was named the league's top coach in 2010 after the program's first-ever perfect 10-0 campaign.
Senior Mickael Trintignac (Le Cannet, France) was named first team all-conference for the second time of his career. He and reigning SoCon Player of the Week Kyle Parker (Richmond, Va.) garnered first team all-conference honors in doubles play. They are currently ranked No. 84 in the nation with a 17-2 overall record at No. 1 doubles.
Meanwhile, second team all-conference selections were made based on position. Sophomore Crescente Lesser (Santiago, Chile) was chosen for the No. 4 position in singles with an 8-2 league mark. Postseason balloting was conducted by the league's head coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
Freshman Alon Faiman (Ramat Hasharon, Israel) rounded out CofC's award winners with a spot on the six-member All-Freshman Team along with Elon's Stefan Fortmann, Elon's Jordan Kaufman, Davidson's Nicky Kunz, UNCG's Randy Phillips and Wofford's Rob Galloway.
"These awards and recognition are a compliment to the effort this team puts in every day at practice and the focus they have during the season to get up for each conference match we have," Bruner said. "I am proud of the boys for their efforts throughout the fall and spring to prepare for the season."
UNCG's Orcun Seyrek was honored as SoCon Men's Tennis Player of the Year, while Elon's Stefan Fortmann was named Freshman of the Year. Appalachian State's Alain Humblet earned the league's Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award.
The 2012 Southern Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Championships begin on Thursday, April 19 in Charleston, S.C. CofC will enjoy a first-round tournament bye and will face the winner of either No. 8-seeded Chattanooga or No. 9-seeded Davidson in quarterfinal action to be held on Friday, April 20 at 8:30 a.m. (ET) at the CofC Tennis Center.
2012 SOUTHERN CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS
FIRST TEAM
Singles
Mickael Trintignac (College of Charleston)
David Orces (The Citadel)
Cameron Silverman (Elon)
Andrew Mellow (Furman)
Orcun Seyrek (UNCG)
Zac Dunkle (Samford)
Doubles
Mickael Trintignac-Kyle Parker (College of Charleston)
Cameron Silverman-Eric Turner (Elon)
Orcun Seyrek-Ahmet Sarioglu (UNCG)
SECOND TEAM
Singles (by position)
No. 1 - Roberto Vieira (Chattanooga)
No. 2 - Ahmet Sarioglu (UNCG)
No. 3 - Elliot Barnwell (Samford)
No. 4 - Crescente Lesser (College of Charleston)
No. 5 - Alexander Sajonz (Samford)
No. 6 - Matt Saltsgaver (Appalachian State)
Doubles (by position)
No. 1 - Sebastien King-Philip Kloc (Appalachian State)
No. 2 - Alain Humblet-Alex Markov (Appalachian State)
No. 3 - Fernando Costa-Carson Kadi (Samford)
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Alon Faiman (College of Charleston)
Nicky Kunz (Davidson)
Stefan Fortmann (Elon)
Jordan Kaufman (Elon)
Randy Phillips (UNCG)
Rob Galloway (Wofford)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jay Bruner (College of Charleston)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Orcun Seyrek (UNCG)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Stefan Fortmann (Elon)
DON BUNCH/BUDDY HARTSELL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Alain Humblet (Appalachian State)
