SAC Men’s Tennis All-Conference Team Announced

ROCK HILL, SC - Catawba College senior Jose Velazquez, who went 18-4 at No. 1 singles during the regular season, was named the 2007 South Atlantic Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year.

Velazquez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic /Arroyo Hondo) was 5-1 in conference play.

Presbyterian College's Matthew Martin, who helped the Blue Hose win the regular season championship by going 15-3 overall and 14-3 at No. 2 singles, was named the Men's Tennis Freshman of the Year.

Jose Velazquez

Matthew Martin

David Staniford

Preston Sneed

Newberry College head coach David Staniford, who led the Indians to a third-place SAC finish, the highest in school history, was named Men's Tennis Coach of the Year.

Carson-Newman College junior Preston Sneed, who has a 3.842 GPA as a Spanish and financial economics major, was named the Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete.

Presbyterian, the regular-season champion, led the way with five All-Conference selections, with Aaron Chapman joining Martin on the first team.

Carson-Newman had three All-Conference picks, with Mike Swanson named to the first team.

Tusculum, Mars Hill and Newberry each had a pair of All-Conference performers.

Jon Allen and Francisco Contreras from Mars Hill were both named to the first team. Maxim Sukharev from Newberry and Sergio Espinosa from Tusculum round out the first team.

Wingate had one All-Conference pick.

The South Atlantic Conference All-Conference Team is selected by the head coaches in the league.

Sneed, a junior from Kingsport, Tenn. (Dobyns-Bennett) is a two-time All-Conference selection and was named Carson-Newman's most valuable player in 2006. He is a member of Alpha Chi national honor society and has studied in Mexico and Spain. He is president of Sigma Delta Pi, the national Spanish honor society and is a worship leader for a Carson-Newman based ministry. He served as an intern in Washington, DC, for the Tennessee U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander.

2007 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS AWARD WINNERS

FIRST TEAM
Mike Swanson, Carson-Newman
Jose Velazquez, Catawba
Jon Allen, Mars Hill
Francisco Contreras, Mars Hill
Maxim Sukharev, Newberry
Matthew Martin, Presbyterian
Aaron Chapman, Presbyterian
Sergio Espinosa, Tusculum

SECOND TEAM
Preston Sneed, Carson-Newman
Matt Stanley, Carson-Newman
Daryl Van Vuuren, Newberry
Andrew Lee, Presbyterian
Michael Nicol, Presbyterian
Pat Fediuk, Presbyterian
Carlos Garcia, Tusculum
Hendrik Ternieden, Wingate

COACH OF THE YEAR - David Staniford, Newberry

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Matthew Martin, Presbyterian

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Jose Velazquez, Catawba

SAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE - Preston Sneed, Carson-Newman

SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE SENIOR AWARDS

Carson-Newman
Michael Swanson

Catawba
Drew Ramsey
Jose Velazquez

Mars Hill
Bobby Roddy
Oscar Gomez

Newberry
Scott Gates

Tusculum
Julien Jacob

Wingate University
Brandon Thornton
Kyle Harding