MEN’S TENNIS: Five Blue Hose Players Garner All-Big South Honors.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Five members of the Presbyterian Blue Hose men's tennis team earned Big South Conference honors, as announced by the league office Thursday.
BIG SOUTH HONORS
Freshman Dusan Milanovic was voted Big South Freshman of the Year by the league’s head coaches. Senior Nicholas McKinney was named Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year in a vote by the league’s sports information directors. McKinney was also named to the Big South All-Academic team for the second consecutive year.
Milanovic was named First Team All-Conference Singles and he teamed with senior Max Benson to garner First Team All-Conference Doubles honors. Benson and sophomores Sebastian Dominguez and Javier Matos were voted Second Team All-Conference Singles. Matos and Dominguez earned Second Team All-Conference Doubles honors as well.
THOUGHTS FROM PRESBYTERIAN COACH JOHN COLLINS
“This is wonderful to see so many of our guys awarded for their achievements on the tennis court and in the classroom. Every guy on our team works so hard on a daily basis and it is exciting to see them honored. I am incredibly proud of everyone on our team.”
DUSAN MILANOVIC
Freshman of the Year, First Team Singles, First Team Doubles
Milanovic joins Diego Manzanas (2014) and Benson (2019) as Blue Hose players that were named Big South Conference Freshman of the Year. The Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina native claimed the Big South Freshman of the Week award five times (January 19, March 2, March 16, March 23, and April 6) this season. He has won a team-leading 14 singles matches playing at either number one or two singles. He teamed with Benson in a doubles tandem that was nationally ranked during the season. They collected 17 doubles wins including a perfect 6-0 record in Big South Conference play.
NICHOLAS MCKINNEY
Scholar-Athlete of the Year, All-Academic Team
McKinney has a 3.81 GPA majoring in Economics and Business with a concentration in Accounting. During his career at PC, he has been on the President's list twice, the Dean's list three times, and was named to the Big South Conference Presidential Honor Roll for three years.
On the court, last season the Marietta, Georgia native earned First Team All-Big South Singles honors. This season, he has recorded ten singles wins including winning five straight matches heading into Saturday’s Big South Championship semifinals match.
MAX BENSON
First Team Doubles, Second Team Singles
Benson, who earned First Team All-Big South Singles honors the last two years and was a repeat First Team All-Big South Doubles selection, joins Grayson Mills (2012-14) as the only two players in the program’s history to be a three-time All-Big South Singles selection. On February 16, Benson was named Big South Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career. This season, the Albany, New York native collected 10 singles wins playing primarily at number one and two singles. He teamed with Milanovic in a doubles tandem that was nationally ranked during the season. including a perfect 6-0 record in Big South Conference play.
SEBASTIAN DOMINGUEZ
Second Team Singles, Second Team Doubles
Dominguez is the 12th different player in the program’s history to earn All-Big South Singles honors.
The Guatemala City, Guatemala native garnered Big South Player of the Week accolades on January 19. This season, Dominguez has tallied 13 singles wins playing primarily number two, three, and four singles. He teamed with Matos to form a doubles tandem that finished the regular season with a 7-2 record.
JAVIER MATOS
Second Team Singles, Second Team Doubles
For the second consecutive year, Matos earned Second Team All-Big South Conference Singles honors. The La Florida, Caracas, Venezuela native claimed Big South Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career on March 16. Matos has collected 14 singles wins playing primarily at number four singles. He teamed with Dominguez to form a doubles tandem that finished the regular season with a 7-2 record.
Women’s Tennis: PC’s Leeman & Sanchez receive honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Two Presbyterian College women's tennis players received postseason honors from the Big South on Thursday, as the league announced its annual awards.
Senior Jessica Leeman earned second team all-conference singles and academic team honors, while freshman Claudia Sanchez joined Leeman on the second team singles team.
Jessica Leeman, Second Team Singles & Academic Team
Leeman earned seven singles wins for the Blue Hose playing primarily at the top two spots in the lineup. She earned four wins at No. 1 and three at No. 2 singles. The Blue Hose senior earned five league wins over Hampton, N.C. A&T, Radford, Longwood and Gardner-Webb. All seven of Leeman's wins came in straight-sets. She earned a Big South Player of the Week honor following her wins against Lander and Belmont Abbey in the early part of the 2022 season. She carries a 3.96 GPA while majoring in Business with an Accounting Concentration. This marks the second straight year that Leeman has earned Academic team honors.
Claudia Sanchez, Second Team Singles
The freshman totaled 10 singles wins for Presbyterian playing mainly at the No. 3 spot in the Blue Hose lineup card that saw her earn seven victories. She was also a perfect 3-0 in her limited time at the No. 2 singles position. Sanchez tallied five league victories against Hampton, N.C. A&T, Radford, Charleston Southern and Longwood. She opened Big South play with a 5-1 mark that included winning her first three league contests. In her singles match against CSU, she rallied from down a set to win 6-4 and then a super tiebreaker 10-6 to earn her win over the Bucs. She earned a pair of freshman of the week awards this season as well.
