The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Van der Merwe and Jung Earn All-Conference USA Men's Tennis Awards
5/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 2, 2002
CHICAGO, Ill. ? UAB's Andre van der Merwe and Alex Jung have been named to the All-Conference USA Second and Third Team, respectively as selected by the league's 12 head coaches and announced by the league office Thursday.
A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Van der Merwe began the season at No. 96 in the preseason Omni Hotel Collegiate Rankings. The senior showed his best play in doubles where he went 16-4, posting a 13-4 record with junior George Dubrava. At No. 2 doubles, van der Merwe tallied an 8-3 record. In C-USA, he posted a 3-0 doubles record and went 1-1 at C-USA Championship. In singles, van der Merwe knocked-off two ranked opponents, including No. 36 Tiago Ruffoni of Auburn. He posted an 11-11 dual match record and went 15-18 overall. This marks the second straight year van der Merwe has been named Second Team All-Conference.
A senior from Waldaschaff, Germany, Jung finished the season with a 16-6 dual match singles record, taking 15 of those wins in straight sets. He tallied four singles wins against opponents from ranked teams and went 2-2 in C-USA play and posted a 3-0 record at the C-USA Championship. In doubles, Jung teamed up with freshman Tobi Klein, posting a 14-6 dual match record. The duo ranked as high as 28th in the Omni Hotels Collegiate Rankings and pulled off an upset of Notre Dame's fifth-ranked tandem of Javier Taborga and Casey Smith. Jung went 16-7 overall in doubles, 2-2 in C-USA and 1-1 at the C-USA Championship. Jung is a three-time All-Conference selection as he was named to the third-team in 1999 and 2000.
Tulane's Michael Kogan was named Conference USA Player of the Year for the second straight year, while South Florida head coach Don Barr earned the league's Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time after directing the Bulls to their fourth C-USA championship on April 21 in Louisville. Fabrizio Sestini of TCU was also named C-USA Freshman of the Year.
Jevgenij Cariov of DePaul was voted Singles Player of the Championship, while Kogan and Victor Romero earned Doubles Team of the Championship honors.
2002 CONFERENCE USA MEN'S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS
First Team All-Conference
Paco Antelo, USF
Jevgenij Cariov, DPU
Toni Gordon, TCU
*Michael Kogan, TUL
*Victor Romero, TUL
Martin Wetzel, USF
Second Team All-Conference
Cody Conley, LOU
Ola Jonsson, CHA
Miikka Kangas, USM
Fabrizio Sestini, TCU
Ben Stapp, MEM
Andre van der Merwe, UAB
Third Team All-Conference
Michael Chamberlain, MEM
Ikaika Jobe, SLU
Alex Jung, UAB
Nadim Naser, USF
Dan McCain, USF
Mattias Westerberg, TUL
Player of the Year
Michael Kogan, TUL
Freshman of the Year
Fabrizio Sestini, TCU
Coach of the Year
Don Barr, USF
Singles Player of the Championship
Jevgenij Cariov, DPU
Doubles Team of the Championship
Michael Kogan and Victor Romero, TUL
*Indicates top two C-USA players in the Omni Hotels ITA Individual Rankings
