Men’s Tennis: Three Cajuns Selected to All-Louisiana Men’s Tennis Teams

Three Cajuns Selected to All-Louisiana Men’s Tennis Teams

Contact: Jeff Schneider

LAFAYETTE, La. – Seniors Carlin Murray and Yanick Mandl plus sophomore Rick DeGroot were named to the 2012 LSWA All-Louisiana Men’s Tennis teams, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association announced late Sunday evening.

“These honors are indicative of the successful year this team had this season,” head coach Mark Jeffrey said. “Carlin, Rick and Yanick each had a solid year. They are deserving of All-Louisiana honors with the hard work they put in r. I can’t remember the last time we had three guys on the All-Louisiana Team, so this is quite an honor.”

Murray, a 2012 All-Sun Belt First Team Selection, was named to the All-Louisiana First Team after posting a 17-13 record in singles. The Philadelphia, Pa. native came from behind to upset 14th ranked Anthony Rossi of Kentucky ending his 16-game win streak.

The senior was the first Ragin’ Cajuns player to be ranked in the ITA Singles National Rankings since Piotr Banas earned a national ranking and was named all-conference in 2008.

Both Mandl and DeGroot were tabbed to the All-Louisiana Second Team.

Mandl closed out the season going 9-2 in his last 11 singles matches including a season-best five match win streak. Overall, he posted a season-high and team-leading 17 wins in singles play matching fellow senior Carlin Murray.

DeGroot led the Cajuns at the No.1 position helping guide the Cajuns to wins over four ranked teams. DeGroot’s top performance came at Texas A&M where he battled to defeated Junior Ore in three sets. Ore was ranked 104th in the nation at the time.

The three student athletes were instrumental in the Cajuns first national ranking in five years and helped anchor a squad that posted 15-plus wins for the first time in four seasons.

LSWA ALL-LOUISIANA MEN’S TENNIS TEAM

Men’s First Team

Name, School/Class/Hometown/Record, Notes

Olivier Borsos, LSU/Jr./Budapest, Hungary/All-SEC 2nd team, Ranked 35th NCAA

Loic Didavi, Xavier/Jr./Cotonou, Benin/24-6 singles, Ranked #8 in ITA/NAIA

Carlin Murray, Louisiana-Lafayette/Sr./Philadelphia, Pa./All-SBC, 17-13 singles

Chris Simpson, LSU/Fr./Derby, England/All-SEC Freshman, 13-8 singles

Neal Skupski, LSU/Sr./Liverpool, England/All-SEC 2nd Team, 14-8 singles

Zach Taylor, Xavier/Sr./Monroe, La./Ranked 19th singles, All-LSWA 2nd team, ‘11

Player of the Year — LOIC DIDAVI, Xavier

Freshman of the Year – CHRIS SIMPSON, LSU

Newcomer of the Year – LOIC DIDAVI, Xavier

Coach of the Year – ALAN GREEN, Xavier

Men’s Second Team

Ricardo Campos, New Orleans (Jr., Cuernavava, Morelos, Mexico); Rick DeGroot, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sophomore, Pekala, Holland); Dmitry Kozionov, Nicholls (Jr., Ivhevsk, Russia); Yanick Mandl, Louisiana-Lafayette (Sr., Thalwil, Switzerland); Idan Mark, Tulane (Jr., Hod Hasharon, Isarel); Rodrigo Rappaccioli, Tulane (Jr. Managua, Nicaragua).

— Ragin’ Cajuns —

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