The announcement of today's 2011 Big West Men's Tennis All-Conference Team is highlighted by the selection of UC Irvine junior Chris Kearney as Player of the Year. Trevor Kronemann captured his second straight Coach of the Year honor with UC Irvine, while Ryan Cheung of UCI shared Freshman of the Year recognition with Cal Poly's Marco Comuzzo.
Kearney, a transfer from North Carolina, made a huge splash in his debut with the UC Irvine program. He is UCI's first Player of the Year since Brett Hansen-Dent won the award in 1992. Kearney notched a 16-7 dual record during the spring while playing primarily at the No. 1 position and is currently ranked No. 42 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Among his victories was a defeat of current No. 37-ranked Daniel Kosakowski of UCLA on Feb. 3. The Irvine, Calif. native swept all five Big West opponents he faced, including fellow first-team all-conference foes Andre Dome, Artem Gramma, Nick Lopez and Benjamin Recknagel.
Kronemann guided the Anteaters to their second straight Big West Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. He guided UCI to a 19-7 overall record and a Big West regular season championship with a perfect 5-0 mark. His Anteaters enter their first round NCAA Tournament match against Ole Miss with a No. 40 team national ranking. Kronemann, who is 70-60 overall in his fifth season at UCI, has led the program to back-to-back tournament crowns for the first time since 1992-93.
The Anteaters produced a sweep of the awards with the selection of Cheung as the top freshman. Cheung, who hails from Irvine, notched a 9-7 overall and 3-2 Big West record in dual matches this season. An honorable mention all-conference selection, Cheung held a seven-match win streak at one point. He is the second Anteater to earn top freshman honors.
Cal Poly head coach Justin McGrath continues to stockpile talent as Comuzzo is the third consecutive Freshman of the Year he has recruited to the Central Coast. Comuzzo produced a 12-2 record at No. 5 singles and went 14-5 overall in spring dual matches. He also sported a 4-1 record against Big West opponents to help the Mustangs to a second place conference finish.
Please click on the above link to access the complete 2011 Big West All-Conference Team:
| FIRST TEAM - SINGLES |
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
| Andre Dome |
So. |
Cal Poly |
| Sam Gould |
Jr. |
UC Irvine |
| Artem Gramma |
Sr. |
Pacific |
| Chris Kearney |
Jr. |
UC Irvine |
| Alex Konigsfeldt |
Sr. |
UC Santa Barbara |
| Nick Lopez |
Sr. |
UC Davis |
| Benjamin Recknagel |
So. |
UC Santa Barbara |
SECOND TEAM - SINGLES |
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
| Ivan Castro |
Jr. |
Pacific |
| Quoc Doan |
Sr. |
UC Riverside |
| Mathieu Forget |
Jr. |
UC Santa Barbara |
| Tomasz Krzyszkowski |
Jr. |
Pacific |
| Fabian Matthews |
Jr. |
UC Irvine |
| Fernando Ristow |
Sr. |
Pacific |
HONORABLE MENTION - SINGLES |
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
| Jordan Bridge |
So. |
Cal Poly |
| Ryan Cheung |
Fr. |
UC Irvine |
| Marco Comuzzo |
Fr. |
Cal Poly |
| Steven Henderson |
Jr. |
UC Irvine |
| Brian McPhee |
Jr. |
Cal Poly |
FIRST TEAM - DOUBLES |
| Name |
School |
|
| Andre Dome/Alexander Sonesson |
Cal Poly |
|
| Nick Lopez/Connor Coates |
UC Davis |
|
| Chris Kearney/Stephen Stege |
UC Irvine |
|
| Alex Konigsfeldt/Taylor Chavez-Goggin |
UC Santa Barbara |
|
SECOND TEAM - DOUBLES |
| Name |
School |
|
| Jordan Bridge/Marco Comuzzo |
Cal Poly |
|
| Fabian Matthews/Ryan Cheung |
UC Irvine |
|
| Sam Gould/Steven Henderson |
UC Irvine |
|
| Ivan Castro/Alex Golding |
Pacific |
|
HONORABLE MENTION - DOUBLES |
| Name |
School |
|
| Artem Gramma/Tomasz Krzyszkowski |
Pacific |
|
2011 BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
| Chris Kearney, UC Irvine |
2011 BIG WEST COACH OF THE YEAR |
| Trevor Kronemann, UC Irvine |
2011 BIG WEST CO-FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR |
| Marco Comuzzo, Cal Poly |
| Ryan Cheung, UC Irvine |