INDIANAPOLIS – Drury University junior Andy Blair has become the sixth standout in Great Lakes Valley Conference history to repeat at Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, it was announced by the conference office at the 2013 GLVC Tennis Championship banquet Thursday evening in Indianapolis, Ind. Blair joined 15 other standouts on the 2013 All-Conference team, while University of Southern Indiana’s Jack Joyce and Chris Crawford were named GLVC Freshman and Coach of the Year, respectively.
A native of Nordhorn, Germany, Blair concluded the regular season with a 12-3 singles record, with 11 of those wins coming at the No. 1 slot, while also holding down a 13-2 mark at No. 2 doubles with teammate Sergio Manzanas. Blair, who was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2011, has now captured a major postseason honor in each of his three seasons with the Panthers. He joins the ranks of Lewis’ Uno Lapimaa (2010-11), Drury’s Stefan Borg (2007-08), Indianapolis’ Ross Johnson (2003-04), Southern Indiana’s Edgar Linares (1999-2000), and Northern Kentucky’s Michael Hon (1993-94) as back-to-back GLVC Player of the Year selections. Blair’s distinction is the fifth top honor for the Panthers as Matias Oddone earned the award in 2006. Blair guided a Drury squad that posted a perfect 6-0 conference mark en route to the GLVC West Division title and currently sits 15-2 overall, winners of nine straight, and the West’s top seed for the 2013 GLVC Tennis Championship Tournament, which begins Friday morning.
Joyce becomes the fourth Screaming Eagle newcomer to earn Freshman of the Year honors, following Jarrod Epkey (2005), Joe Epkey (2004), Andrew Majxner (1998). The Bournemouth, England, native compiled a 12-1 record in singles play, including a 9-1 mark at the No. 5 hole and a perfect 3-0 record at No. 4. Joyce also posted a combined 14-3 result at both No. 1 and 2 doubles with three difference partners, including a 10-0 record with All-GLVC member Ben Boesing.
Crawford not only mentored Joyce and Boesing, but also two additional All-Conference honorees in sophomore Michael Kuzaj and senior Juan Quiroz. USI compiled a perfect 5-0 mark for the outright East Division crown, while winning the final eight matches to conclude the regular season 13-4 overall. Crawford was previously honored by his peers in 2010 and is nearly halfway to reaching the conference record of five selections, held by former coach and current USI Athletics Director Jon Mark Hall (1997-98-99-2000-02). This is the eighth time a Screaming Eagle head coach has earned the conference’s top mentor award as Ross Brown was also tabbed Coach of the Year in 2005.
Drury and Southern Indiana paced the conference with three All-Conference selections apiece, combining for six of the 16 honorees on a team equally divided between eight East and eight West Division standouts. Joining Blair, Boesing, Kuzaj, and Quiroz on the All-GLVC squad was Bellarmine sophomore Igal Mostkov and junior Anton Rabinov, Drury junior Lukas Kriem and senior Roman Gonda, Lewis sophomores Erik Aunapuu and Armand Levandi, McKendree senior Gabor Toth, Missouri-St. Louis sophomore Tim McLarty, Quincy sophomore Ian Hinkamper, Rockhurst seniors Yassir El Ghazi and Rodolfo Gauto-Mariotti, and William Jewell junior Shane Giannetti.
2013 GLVC ALL-CONFERENCE
Igal Mostkov, So., BU
Anton Rabinov, Jr., BU
Andy Blair, Jr., DU
Roman Gonda, Sr., DU
Lukas Kriem, Jr., DU
Erik Aunapuu, So., LEWIS
Armand Levandi, So., LEWIS
Gabor Toth, Sr., MCK
Tim McLarty, So., UMSL
Ian Hinkamper, So., QU
Yassir El Ghazi, Sr., RU
Rodolfo Gauto-Mariotti, Sr., RU
Ben Boesing, Sr., USI
Juan Quiroz, Sr., USI
Michael Kuzaj, So., USI
Shane Giannetti, Jr., WJC
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Andy Blair, Jr., DU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Jack Joyce, USI
COACH OF THE YEAR
Chris Crawford, USI