HAMMOND, La. — LSU’s Michael Venus and Megan Falcon were tabbed the state’s top players, while Xavier’s Alan Green took home a pair of coaching honors as the 2009 All-Louisiana Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams were announced by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association on Saturday.
Both Venus and Falcon repeated as Player of the Year winners. Venus, an Orlando, Fla. native and the 2009 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, was named the state’s top player and newcomer a season ago. The Alameda, Calif. product Falcon, the 2009 ITA Southwest Regional Senior Player of the Year, was named the Louisiana Player of the Year for the third consecutive season.
Green recently completed his sixth season at the helm of the Xavier men’s and women’s programs and was selected the Louisiana Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year. On the men’s side, Green’s Gold Rush tied a school-record for victories with a 16-6 record, a final NAIA national ranking of 18th and the school’s first berth in the NAIA National Championships.
The Gold Nuggets continued their Gulf Coast Athletic Conference dominance under Green, winning their fifth GCAC Women’s Tennis Tournament and making their fourth national tournament appearance of his tenure. The team finished with an overall record of 18-6, three wins against NCAA Division I opposition and improved to 52-0 in regular season conference matches under Green.
Venus, who was ranked as high as second nationally in both singles and doubles play during the season and was an All-American selection, headed an All-Louisiana first team that also included Freshman of the Year Javier Pulgar of Louisiana-Lafayette and Southeastern Louisiana’s Guillaume Capovin, who was named the Louisiana Newcomer of the Year.
Pulgar, a native of Madrid, Spain, was 17-3 in singles play on the season playing predominantly at the No. 2 position, where he had a 14-2 singles mark. The state honor was the latest for the France product Capovin, who was previously named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year after posting a team-best 16-6 singles mark during the spring.
Venus, Pulgar and Capivin were joined on the first team by Xavier’s Terry Richardson, Piotr Banas of Louisiana-Lafayette and UNO’s Calvin Kemp. The second team was comprised of LSU’s Neal Skupski and Sebastian Carlsson, Arlen Domoney of Louisiana-Lafayette, UNO’s Ben Smith and the Southeastern pair of Benjamin Enke and Damien Cordoba.
In all LSU, Louisiana-Lafayette and Southeastern each placed a state-high three student-athletes on the first two teams, while New Orleans had two representatives. Southeastern’s Jan Bezdecka and Julien Roussel, as well as Mikhail Vaval of Xavier were honorable mention selections.
Falcon, who was ranked in the top 15 nationally in singles play and earned singles All-American recognition, posted a 32-7 overall record in singles play to once again reign as Louisiana’s premier women’s tennis student-athlete. Falcon and Tulane’s Mariam Kurdadze, the state’s Freshman of the Year, headed the All-Louisiana women’s tennis first team.
Falcon and Kurdaze, a Tsilisi, Republic of Georgia native who finished with a 19-5 record in her first collegiate season, were joined on the first team by four-time first team All-Louisiana selection Iva Velkovska of Southeastern Louisiana, the Louisiana-Monroe duo of Claire Clark and Marion Lehmann, as well as Xavier’s Anastesia Opata.
LSU’s Mykala Hedberg, who teamed with Falcon for an ITA Southwest Regional doubles title, highlighted the second team. Hedberg was joined by teammate Nicole Kantor, Xavier’s Angelina Callis, Northwestern State’s Bianca Schulz, Audrey Chelini of Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana-Lafayette’s Angela Dagond.
LSU led the state with three-student athletes on the top two women’s teams, while ULM, Southeastern and Xavier had two honorees apiece. Newcomer of the Year Kozue Matsumoto of UNO led the honorable mention picks.
Matsumoto, a Fukuoka, Japan native who was 14-10 in singles action in her first season with the Privateers out of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Kathrin Lange of Northwestern State and LSU’s Staten Spencer were honorable mention selections.
The 2009 LSWA All-Louisiana Men’s and Women’s Tennis teams were nominated and selected by the state’s sports information directors.
2009 LSWA All-Louisiana Men’s Tennis Teams
First Team
Michael Venus ? LSU ? Sr. ? Orlando, Fla.
Terry Richardson ? Xavier ? Senior ? Ellenwood, Ga.
Piotr Banas ? Louisiana-Lafayette ? Junior ? Warsaw, Poland
Javier Pulgar ? Louisiana-Lafayette ? Freshman ? Madrid, Spain
Calvin Kemp ? UNO ? Freshman ? Atlanta, Ga.
Guillaume Capovin ? Southeastern Louisiana ? Senior ? France
Second Team
Neil Skupski ? LSU ? Freshman ? Liverpool, England
Arlen Domoney ? Louisiana-Lafayette ? Senior ? Capetown, South Africa
Ben Smith ? UNO ? Sophomore ? Ipswich, England
Benjamin Enke ? Southeastern Louisiana ? Junior ? Germany
Sebastian Carlsson ? LSU ? Sophomore ? Uppsala, Sweden
Damien Cordoba ? Southeastern Louisiana ? Freshman ? France
Honorable Mention: Jan Bezdecka, Southeastern Louisiana; Julien Roussel, Southeastern Louisiana; Mikhail Vaval, Xavier
Player of the Year: Michael Venus, LSU
Newcomer of the Year: Guillaume Capovin, Southeastern Louisiana
Freshman of the Year: Javier Pulgar, Louisiana-Lafayette
Coach of the Year: Alan Green, Xavier
2009 LSWA All-Louisiana Women’s Tennis Teams
First Team
Megan Falcon ? LSU ? Senior ? Alameda, Calif.
Iva Velkovska ? Southeastern Louisiana ? Senior ? Skopje, Macedonia
Claire Clark ? Louisiana-Monroe ? Sophomore ? Bossier City, La.
Anastesia Opata ? Xavier ? Junior ? Lawrenceville, Ga.
Mariam Kurdaze ? Tulane ? Freshman ? Tsilisi, Republic of Georgia
Marion Lehmann ? Louisiana-Monroe ? Senior ? Besancon, France
Second Team
Angelina Callis ? Xavier ? Junior ? Los Angeles, Calif.
Bianca Schulz ? Northwestern State ? Sophomore ? Wiesenstiasse, Germany
Mykala Hedberg ? LSU ? Senior ? Oxnard, Calif.
Nicole Kantor ? LSU ? Junior ? St. Louis, Mo.
Audrey Chelini ? Southeastern Louisiana ? Freshman ? France
Angela Dagond ? Louisiana-Lafayette ? Senior ? Columbia
Honorable Mention: Staten Spencer, LSU; Kozue Matsumoto, UNO; Kathrin Lange, Northwestern State
Player of the Year: Megan Falcon, LSU
Newcomer of the Year: Kozue Matsumoto, UNO
Freshman of the Year: Mariam Kurdaze, Tulane
Coach of the Year: Alan Green, Xavier