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Men’s Tennis: Cajuns Land Four On LSWA All-Louisiana Teams-Jeffrey Named Louisiana Coach of the Year
LAFAYETTE, La. – The 2014 Sun Belt Conference Champion Ragin’ Cajuns men’s tennis landed four student-athletes on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) All-Louisiana men’s tennis teams, the LSWA announced over the weekend.
Senior Rick de Groot was named the All-Louisiana First Team, while Hunter Johnson, Edgar Lopez and Jake Wynan were tabbed to the All-Louisiana Second Team.
Head coach Mark Jeffrey was also named the All-Louisiana Coach of the Year after leading the Cajuns to the most wins since 1986 and the program’s 10th conference championship.
"This is a great accomplishment to have four guys voted for the All-Louisiana teams,” Jeffrey said. “Rick had another solid year as one of our top players for his selection on the first team. Rick improved several aspects of his game, and again his highlight was his doubles play with Jake Wynan. I look for Rick to have a solid year on the ATP Tour in doubles. I really feel Rick could be among the top 300 in doubles in very short time."
A native of Pekala, Holland, de Groot was an All-Sun Belt First Team selection in both singles and doubles after finishing the season with a 11-9 record in singles and 14-4 in doubles. The senior, along with teammate Wynan, was nationally ranked in doubles during the season.
The trio of Wynan, Lopez and Johnson combined to win 41 matches in singles this spring led by Johnson who was a perfect 15-0. Wynan was second on the squad with 14 wins, while Lopez recorded 12 wins playing on the top three lines.
"Having Jake Wynan, Edgar Lopez,and Hunter Johnson garner All Louisiana Second Team speaks to the depth of our team this year,” Jeffrey added. “I thought that Jake was one of our most improved players from this year to last. He won some big matches for us this year at critical times in the season. Also, Hunter going undefeated throughout the season was another milestone that has never happened in my tenure as a coach. This was a special season for Hunter. Edgar again had a solid year, improving toward the end of the season. Edgar played his best tennis right at the end of the year and one of his best matches was against Mississippi State in the NCAA tournament."
Jeffrey, the 2014 Sun Belt Coach of the Year, guided the Ragin’ Cajuns to the second best winning percentage in a season in school history as his squad won 10 straight matches heading into the NCAA tournament.
"Garnering Coach of the Year was a team effort and it all starts with my assistant coach Luc Godin,” Jeffrey said. “I felt this year we had two head coaches at the helm to direct this program. Even though I had to share Luc with the women’s team, his relentless hard work in not only working on the court but off the court in recruiting was a major player in our team having the year that we did. Luc and I worked very well together, and I had so much fun this year working with him and feeding off each other working tirelessly day in and day out. This is a year that I will remember for a long time, a special year, that saw gains in our program for now and the future.
"This is a great time for our program. We have built the schedule up next year to include 15 nationally ranked teams. I really believe that we are going to approach some very special times for Cajun men’s tennis here in the next several years.
"This year is the beginning. We don’t ever want to go backwards. The goal next year is to finish inside the top 25 nationally and be able to go to the final 16 at nationals. The bar is expected to be high, and the way we are now the only direction we look is up, it is expected. I feel the level of athlete we are bringing in next year will elevate us right away.”
2014 LSWA MEN’S TENNIS TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Dominik Koepfer, Tulane – 21-8 overall; Second-Team All-Conference USA
Chris Simpson, LSU – 21-20 overall; Second-Team All-SEC
Nico Mertens, Nicholls – 14-6 overall; First-Team All-SLC
Rick de Groot, Louisiana – 11-8 overall; First-Team All-Sun Belt
Jao Chi-San, Tulane – 22-8 overall; C-USA Freshman of the Year
Kyle Montrel, Xavier – 15-9 overall; NAIA First-Team All-America
SECOND TEAM
Hunter Johnson, Louisiana; Partha Adavelly, Nicholls; Justin Butsch, LSU; Sebastian Ray, Tulane; Jake Wynan, Louisiana; Edgar Lopez, Louisiana.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Dominik Koepfer, Tulane
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Jao Chi-San, Tulane
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Kevin Chaouat, Xavier
COACH OF THE YEAR – Mark Jeffrey, Louisiana
— Ragin’ Cajuns —
—
Jeff Schneider
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Cox Communications Athletics Center Office: (337) 482-6332
@ULRaginCajuns
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