BATON ROUGE — Senior Kevin Dessauer of the 18th-ranked LSU men’s tennis team was named the Southeast Regional ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship winner, The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Saturday.
The accolade marks the second straight year a Tiger has won the award as current student assistant coach Danny Bryan won the award last season. Bryan went on to win the national award.
The ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
The New Orleans native has already been honored by the Southeastern Conference this season for his success on the court, in the community and the classroom.
Dessauer earned second-team All-SEC honors for the second straight year after he compiled a 16-4 dual record, including an outstanding 10-0 at home. His teammates chose him as team captain prior to the season. 10 of his dual wins were in straight sets. He opened the dual season on a 10-match win streak and only lost four sets during that stretch.
Dessauer was named to the SEC Community Service team. He volunteered in numerous community service events in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Dessauer teamed up with Shaquille O’Neal and 84 Lumber in building Polk Elementary a new playground in the fall. The New Orleans native also visited a paralyzed high school football player in the hospital to motivate and cheer him up.
Dessauer became the first player to be named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice (2007, 2008) during his career.
He is set to graduate next Friday with a perfect 4.00 grade point average, with a major in Kinesiology, during his time at LSU. The three-time ITA Academic All-American was the 2006 and 2007 Tiger Athletic Foundation Male Student-Athlete of the Year.
2008 ITA Southeast Regional Awards
Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year
Billy Chadwick – Ole Miss
ITA Assistant Coach of the Year
Chris Woodruff – Tennessee-Knoxville
ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership & Sportsmanship
Kevin Dessauer ? LSU
Farnsworth/ITA Senior Player of the Year
Travis Helgeson – Georgia
ITA Rookie Player of the Year
JP Smith – Tennessee
ITA Player to Watch
Daniel Vallverdu – Miami (FL)
ITA/John Van Nostrand Memorial Award
Greg Ouellette – Florida
ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award
Erling Tveit – Ole Miss
Tennis' Dessauer Given Region's Arthur Ashe Award