ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The Missouri Valley Conference has announced the 2014 men's and women's tennis All-Conference teams, with representation from six different conference schools between the men's and women's selections. Student-athletes named to the All-Conference team were honored at the annual Missouri Valley Conference tennis awards banquet Thursday evening in Normal, Ill., preceding the Valley Team Tennis Championship hosted by Illinois State University.
The All-Conference team is comprised of one individual from each of the six singles flight classes, as well as three doubles teams from each of the doubles flight classes. In addition, six other individuals are chosen regardless of flight distinction and are named to an "All-Select" Team.
Individuals earning selection to the All-Conference singles team via the flight-selection process are not eligible for the at-large select team. The All-Conference team is chosen by a vote of league coaches.
Scholar-Athlete honors require athletes to meet performance standards to be eligible for selection. A student-athlete must hold a cumulative 3.2 GPA, at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, and have participated in 75% of the regular season or projected participation in the MVC Championship to earn a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team.
The WSU women's tennis team won 11 awards. This included three on the MVC Women's Tennis All-Conference Singles Team, one on the MVC Women's Tennis All-Conference All-Select Team, a doubles pair on the MVC Women's Tennis All-Conference Doubles Team, the MVC Women's Tennis Player of the Year, the MVC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year, three on the Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete First Team and one as a MVC Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention.
Julia Schiller (at No. 1 singles), Rebecca Pedrazzi (at No. 2 singles) and Veronika Blaskova (at No. 6 singles) each were named to the MVC Women's Tennis All-Conference Singles Team. Lucia Kovalova was named to the All-Select Team while Schiller/Abby Stevens were named to the MVC Women's Tennis All-Conference Doubles Team at No. 3 doubles.
Schiller was named the MVC Women's Tennis Player of the year for the first time in her career after registering a 6-0 conference record at No. 1 singles. Shocker women's tennis head coach Colin Foster was named the MVC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 6-0 record in conference match play as he led the Shockers to their sixth straight regular season title.
Montse Blasco Fernandez, Blaskova and Kovalova each were named to the MVC Women's Scholar-Athlete First Team and Pedrazzi was named as a MVC Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention.
On the men's side, Ilija Cuic and Tin Ostojic were named to the 2014 MVC Men's Tennis All-Conference All-Select Team.
Both Wichita State tennis teams will be in action on Saturday as they look to defend their MVC Tournament Championships from last season. The 54th ranked Shocker women's tennis team takes on the winner of the Northern Iowa/Illinois State matchup at 10 a.m. on Saturday while the men's tennis team competes against Southern Illinois on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The MVC Tournament Championship previews for each Shocker tennis team will be posted on Friday. Live stats will be available for the MVC Tournament Championship from the Valley in the schedule page and the schedule box on the home page, and the results for each match will be posted after the completion of play.
-WICHITA STATE-
2014 Valley Women's Tennis All-Conference
SINGLES
No. 1 – Julia Schiller, Wichita State
No. 2 – Rebecca Pedrazzi, Wichita State
No. 3 – Maddie Johnson, Drake
No. 4 – Nell Boyd, Drake
No. 5 – Jordan Eggleston, Drake
No. 6 – Veronika Blaskova, Wichita State
ALL-SELECT TEAM
Klavdija Rebol, Drake
Marketa Trousilova, Evansville
Phyllis Tigges, Illinois State
Anita Lee, Southern Illinois
Natasha Tomishima, Southern Illinois
Lucia Kovalova, Wichita State
DOUBLES
No. 1 – Madeliene Baillon/Phyllis Tigges, Illinois State
No. 2 – Anita Lee/Korey Love, Southern Illinois
No. 3 – Julia Schiller/Abby Stevens, Wichita State
Player of the Year:
Julia Schiller, Wichita State
Freshman of the Year:
Ariel Dechter, Bradley
Coach of the Year:
Colin Foster, Wichita State
2014 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete First Team
Carly Miles, Bradley
Maddie Johnson, Drake
Kelsey Costales, Evansville
Kadi Ilves, Illinois State
Heather Nisbet, Illinois State
Phyllis Tigges, Illinois State
Anita Lee, Southern Illinois
Korey Love, Southern Illinois
Montse Blasco Fernadez, Wichita State
Veronika Blaskova, Wichita State
Lucia Kovalova, Wichita State
2014 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention
Adele Henke, Bradley
Marketa Trousilova, Evansville
Gisela Cairo Baza, Southern Illinois
Natasha Tomishima, Southern Illinois
Rebecca Pedrazzi, Wichita State
2014 Valley Men's Tennis All-Conference
SINGLES
No. 1 – Alen Salibasic, Drake
No. 2 – Jorge Cavero, Southern Illinois
No. 3 – Robin Goodman, Drake
No. 4 – Matt Frost, Drake
No. 5 – Ravi Patel, Drake
No. 6 – Ben Mullis, Drake
ALL-SELECT TEAM
Ben Lott, Drake
Erik Brunskog, Illinois State
Michal Kianicka, Southern Illinois
Jonny Rigby, Southern Illinois
Ilija Cuic, Wichita State
Tin Ostojic, Wichita State
DOUBLES
No. 1 – Michal Kianicka/Jonny Rigby, Southern Illinois
No. 2 – Ben Mullis/Alen Salbasic, Drake
No. 3 – Matt Frost/Ravi Patel, Drake
Player of the Year:
Alen Salibasic, Drake
Freshman of the Year:
Michal Kianicka, Southern Illinois
Coach of the Year:
Davidson Kozlowski, Drake
Dann Nelson, Southern Illinois
2014 Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete First Team
Ashton Kalhorn, Bradley
Arthur Romanet, Bradley
Hamish Weerasinghe, Bradley
Robin Goodman, Drake
Ben Mullis, Drake
Alen Salibasic, Drake
Jakub Eisner, Illinois State
Rolando Torrellas, Illinois State
Jacob Wilson, Illinois State
Rafael Cuadrillero, Southern Illinois
Jonny Rigby, Southern Illinois