BATON ROUGE — The No. 15-ranked LSU men’s tennis team was honored by the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday as seniors Danny Bryan and Ken Skupski were named first-team All-SEC and junior Kevin Dessauer was chosen as the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year and received second-team All-SEC honors, the league office announced.
This marks the fourth time Skupski has received first-team honors and is a first for Bryan. Bryan received second-team honors for doubles last season. He was named to the SEC Community Service Team earlier this week.
Dessauer, a New Orleans native, is the third LSU Tiger to be named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Former Tigers Bryan Fisher (2004) and Paul White (2005) won it the two previous times.
“Kevin continues to improve on the tennis court and he is an outstanding student,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “I am very proud to have him represent us on the court and the classroom.
“Danny and Ken have led us as captains and with their strong play this year. They are both determined to take this team as far as possible in the postseason. These rewards are a reflection of their determination.”
Dessauer has held a perfect 4.0 GPA during his time at LSU. The former walk on is currently ranked No. 76 in singles and is second on the team with 21 wins. The New Orleans native received ITA Scholar-Athlete honors the past two seasons. He was named the 2007 Tiger Athletic Foundation Student-Athlete of the Year. Dessauer has been listed on the SEC Honor Roll the past three seasons.
Skupski has compiled 21 wins this season, including 11 against ranked opponents. He is currently ranked No. 25. The Liverpool, England native won the consolation bracket of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships by winning four-straight matches against opponents ranked in the top 35. He and doubles partner James Cluskey are ranked No. 13. The duo reached two ITA semifinals in the fall. Cluskey and Skupski boasts a 20-8 record this season including two wins against teams ranked in the top 10.
Bryan leads LSU with 23 wins this season. Five of Bryan’s wins came against ranked opponents. He is currently ranked No. 49 The New Orleans native won the top singles bracket at the Rice Invitational and Ragin’ Cajun Classic in the fall. He captured the SEC Indoor Doubles Championship with partner Colt Gaston. Bryan and Gaston have compiled an outstanding 20-2 record, including five wins against ranked opponents. They have won 31 of their last 33 matches.
Other awards announced by the SEC include Alabama’s Billy Pate and Georgia’s Manual Diaz being named SEC Co-Coaches of the Year, UGA’s John Isner garnered SEC Player of the Year honors and Florida’s Jesse Levine was named SEC Freshman of the Year.
The Tigers host the SEC Tournament this week, April 19-22, and will play the winner of the Arkansas vs. Tennessee match on Friday at 5 p.m.
2007 SEC Men’s Tennis Awards
Co-Coaches of the Year: Billy Pate, Alabama / Manual Diaz, Georgia
Player of the Year: John Isner, Georgia
Freshman of the Year: Jesse Levine, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Kevin Dessauer, LSU
First Team
Blake Strode, ARK
Robbert Lathouwers, AU
Jesse Levine, UF
Greg Ouellette, UF
John Isner, UG
Luis Flores, UG
Travis Helgeson, UG
Ken Skupski, LSU
Danny Bryan, LSU
Erling Tveit, UM
Robbye Poole, UM
Kaden Hensel, UT
Second Team
Nestor Briceno, UF
Matic Omerzel, UG
Nate Schnugg, UG
Jamie Hunt, UG
Kalle Norberg, UM
Jonas Berg, UM
Kevin Dessauer, LSU
Philipe Frayssinoux, MSU
Davey Sandgren, UT
Billy Mertz, UA
Ryan Preston, VU
Bruno Agostinelli, UK