IRVINE, Calif. -- The All-Big West men’s tennis teams and major award winners have been announced, four days after the conclusion of the 2023 Big West Men’s Tennis Championship. The teams and awards were voted on by the league’s seven head coaches.
UC Santa Barbara redshirt junior Phillip Jordan is The Big West Player of the Year. Jordan went 16-5 overall in singles play, 14-5 at the top flight and 2-0 at No. 2, and 5-0 in conference action. The Spartangburg, S.C. native led the Gauchos to a share of the regular season title and The Big West Championship crown. not only made the All-Big West First Team as a singles player, but also as a doubles pair with teammate Kai Brady, going 11-4 overall and 2-0 in Big West action, all at the top spot.
Constantinos Djakouris of UC Davis is The Big West Freshman of the Year. The Aggie rookie went 10-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play. Mainly operating in the top half of the lineup, the Djakouris went 0-1 at No. 1, 7-1 at No. 2, 2-2 at No. 3 and 1-0 at No. 4 singles, 0-1 at No. 1 and 3-0 at No. 2 in Big West play.
UC Santa Barbara head coach Blake Muller is The Big West Coach of the Year. The second-year head coach guided the Gauchos to a 22-3 record, winning a share of the conference’s regular season title with a 5-1 record. UC Santa Barbara won The Big West Men’s Tennis Championship as the top seed, defeating No. 4 seed Hawai’i 4-1 in the semifinals and No. 2 seed UC Irvine 4-0 in the finals. The Gauchos are ranked No. 39 in the latest ITA rankings released on April 25. UC Santa Barbara will represent The Big West in the upcoming NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship with a matchup against San Diego at USC on Friday, May 5 at 11 a.m.
Singles players on All-Big West First Team consists of Jordan, Djakouris, Cal Poly junior Noah Berry (11-6, 3-3 BW), Hawai’i senior Andre Ilagan (15-3, 4-0 BW), UC Irvine senior Enrique Luque Rico (10-6, 2-2 BW), UC Santa Barbara junior Pablo Masjuan (15-2, 3-1 BW) and UC Irvine sophomore Noah Zamora (11-6, 5-0 BW). Doubles pair joining Jordan and Brady on the first team are Mitchell Davis and Andrei Volgin of UC Davis (9-9, 3-2 BW), UC Irvine’s Brandon Park and Noah Zamora (12-4, 4-1 BW), and Ilagan and Lucas Labrunie of Hawai’i (5-4, 2-1 BW).
Singles players on the second team are Hawai’i junior Axel Labrunie, Cal Poly redshirt junior Joe Leather, UC Santa Barbara junior Luka Mrsic, UC Irvine junior Brandon Park, UC San Diego senior Daniel Traxler and UC Davis senior Volgin. Doubles pair on the second team are Cal Poly’s Berry and Fernando Fonseca, Lucas Bollinger and Coleton Hootman of UC Davis, Axel Labrunie and Kilian Maitre of Hawai’i and Cal Poly’s Colter Smith and Bastiaan Weststrate.
| 2023 All-Big West First Team
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| Student-Athlete(s) |
Year |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Noah Berry |
Jr. |
Cal Poly |
Bellaire, Tex. |
| Constantinos Djakouris |
Fr. |
UC Davis |
Nicosia, Cyprus |
| Andre Ilagan |
Sr. |
Hawai'i |
Honolulu, Hawai’i |
| Phillip Jordan |
R-Jr. |
UC Santa Barbara |
Spartanburg, S.C. |
| Enrique Luque Rico |
Sr. |
UC Irvine |
Cordoba, Spain |
| Pablo Masjuan |
Jr. |
UC Santa Barbara |
Madrid, Spain |
| Noah Zamora |
So. |
UC Irvine |
San Diego, Calif. |
| Kai Brady & Philip Jordan |
Jr. & R-Jr. |
UC Santa Barbara |
Redondo Beach, Calif. & Spartanburg, S.C. |
| Mitchell Davis & Andrei Volgin |
Sr. & Sr. |
UC Davis |
Encinitas, Calif. & Fremont, Calif. |
| Andre Ilagan & Lucas Labrunie |
Sr. & Gr. |
Hawai'i |
Honolulu, Hawai’i & Paris, France |
| Brandon Park & Noah Zamora |
Jr. & So. |
UC Irvine |
Bakersfield, Calif. & San Diego, Calif. |
| 2023 All-Big West Second Team |
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| Student-Athlete(s) |
Year |
Institution |
Hometown |
| Axel Labrunie |
Jr. |
Hawai'i |
Paris, France |
| Joe Leather |
R-Jr. |
Cal Poly |
Bath, England |
| Luka Mrsic |
Jr. |
UC Santa Barbara |
Vienna, Austria |
| Brandon Park |
Jr. |
UC Irvine |
Bakersfield, Calif. |
| Daniel Traxler |
Sr. |
UC San Diego |
Oceanside, Calif. |
| Andrei Volgin |
Sr. |
UC Davis |
Fremont, Calif. |
| Noah Berry & Fernando Fonseca |
Jr. & R-Jr. |
Cal Poly |
Bellaire, Tex. & Mogi Mirim, Brazil |
| Lucas Bollinger & Coleton Hootman |
Fr. & Sr. |
UC Davis |
Napa, Calif. & Albuquerque, N.M. |
| Axel Labrunie & Kilian Maitre |
Jr. & So. |
Hawai'i |
Paris, France & Brive-la-Gaillarde, France |
| Colter Smith & Bastiaan Weststrate |
R-Jr. & So. |
Cal Poly |
Long Beach, Calif. & Voorschoten, Netherlands |
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| Honorable Mention Singles: Brett Brinkman (UC Davis), Antreas Djakouris (UC Riverside), Rithvik Krishna (UC Irvine), Diogo Tinoco (UC San Diego) |
| Honorable Mention Doubles: Pelayo Rodriguez & Daniel Traxler (UC San Diego), Conrad Brown & Luka Mrsic (UC Santa Barbara), Brett Brinkman & Andras Necz (UC Davis |