BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Sports Writers Association announced Sunday that senior Chris Simpson, junior Boris Arias and sophomore Jordan Daigle were named to the All-Louisiana first team while sophomore Justin Butsch was named to the second team.
Daigle also earned the newcomer of the year award in his first season with LSU after transferring from Virginia last season.
Daigle patrolled court one for the Tigers for much of the dual season. He amassed an 11-7 record on the year in singles, and a 14-9 doubles record. The Lafayette native notched three victories over ranked oppponents including No. 79 Giammarco Micolani of Arkansas, No. 56 Uros Petronijevic of San Diego and No. 12 Dominic Koepfer of Tulane. In doubles, Daigle partnered up with Arias to earn six victories over teams in the top 50 including three wins in the top eight. The duo went to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships where they earned All America honors.
Simpson served an important role for LSU this season as he was not only the court two starter, but the lone senior on a young and talented team. Simpson finished the season tied for the second most wins with a 25-13 record while spending much of the season ranked by the ITA in singles with his highest ranking being No. 49. Simpson teamed up with Butsch in doubles as the court three team where they compiled a 19-9 record.
A consistent performer for the Tigers, Arias showed he is a player to watch in his junior season. Arias enjoyed a red-hot start as he had a winstreak of 35 consecutive games across both doubles and singles play between Jan. 31 and Feb. 7. The La Paz, Bolivia native proved his streak was not a fluke as he earned a 25-10 singles record on the season, good for second most wins on the team while primarily playing on court three. Arias was also part of the No. 14 doubles team nationally that earned six victories over teams ranked in the top 50, including three wins in the top eight.
Butsch turned in a strong season for the Tigers as he competed in every dual match, playing anywhere from court two through court six. A junior, Butsch accumulated the largest win total on the team for the season with a 26-12 singles record. He recorded a ranked victory during tournament play at the Conference Challenge in College Station in October where he defeated then-No. 46 Jeremy Efferding of Texas A&M. Butsch and his doubles teammate Chris Simpson earned the most doubles victories on the team with a 19-9 record. Butsch will be a key piece for the Tigers next season.
A complete listing of the LSWA awards can be found below.
For up-to-date information and behind-the-scenes access on the Tigers, fans can follow the LSU men’s tennis team on Twitter and Instagram at @lsutennis and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutennis.
FIRST TEAM
Dominik Koepfer, Tulane
Jordan Daigle, LSU
Chris Simpson, LSU
Kyle Montrel, Xavier
Boris Arias, LSU
Constantin Schmitz, Tulane
SECOND TEAM
Justin Butsch, LSU
Kieran Cronin, Nicholls State
Bernard Wezeman, Nicholls State
Sebastian Rey, Tulane
Blake Gregor, New Orleans
Damian Farinola, Louisiana-Lafayette
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dominik Koepfer, Tulane
(Koepfer 5, Daigle 1)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Jordan Daigle, LSU
(Daigle 5, Chakma 1)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Constantin Schmitz, Tulane
(Schmitz 5, Freund 1)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Mark Booras, Tulane