Four Bucs earn honors; Biosca tabbed Player of the Year, Zaatini named Coach of the Year 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (April 22, 2014) – The Southern Conference announced its men’s tennis postseason awards Wednesday, with four ETSU players earning all-conference honors, including sophomore David Biosca (Sant Fruitos de Bage, Spain) who was named SoCon Men’s Tennis Player of the Year after helping lead the Bucs to the league’s regular-season championship.

Biosca becomes the seventh player in program history to receive a league Player of the Year award, joining Sander Gille (’10), Enrique Olivares (’08, ’09), Oscar Posada (’05), Gustavo Gomez (’00), Antonio Robles (’95), and current ETSU head coach Yaser Zaatini (’91, ’92, ’93).

After guiding ETSU to a 14-7 (7-0 SoCon) record this season, Zaatini was voted Southern Conference Coach of the Year by his peers. Zaatini is the only person in Southern Conference history to be named the league’s Player of the Year and Coach of the Year. He has received a league Coach of the Year award seven times during his career, including three times in the SoCon (’04, ’05, ’15) and four times in the Atlantic Sun (’08, ’09, ’12, ’14).

Biosca posted a 13-5 spring singles record this season, including a 6-0 mark in league play. As a freshman last season, he earned All-Atlantic Sun First Team honors. He was joined on the All-SoCon Singles First Team by Rogerio Ribeiro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who amassed a 12-6 record (6-0 SoCon). Ribeiro was named to the All-Atlantic Sun Second Team in 2012 and First Team in 2013 prior to missing the 2013-14 campaign due to injury.

ETSU and Wofford were the lone SoCon teams to place two players on the First Team.

Together, Biosca and Ribeiro were named to the All-SoCon Doubles First Team after recording an 11-7 (5-1 SoCon) record.

ETSU was also represented by Ismael Merino (Lima, Peru) and Robert Herrera (Barcelona, Spain), who were named to the league’s Singles Second Team and All-Freshman Team, respectively. Last season, Merino was named Atlantic Sun Men's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year and earned All-Atlantic Sun Singles Second Team honors.

Merino and Herrera also earned All-SoCon Doubles Second Team honors.

This season, Merino went 13-4 (5-0 SoCon) in singles, while Herrera posted a 6-3 (2-1 SoCon) record. Together, Merino and Herrera teamed up to amass an impressive 10-1 doubles record, including a 5-0 mark in league play.

ETSU, which claimed the Southern Conference regular-season championship last weekend, will enter the upcoming SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship as the top seed and will take on eighth-seeded The Citadel Friday, April 24 at 8:30 a.m., at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.

The 2015 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championship will take place April 24-26, with the quarterfinals being played at Wofford in Spartanburg and the semifinals and final taking place at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

To view the complete bracket for this weekend’s SoCon tournament, click here.

2015 SoCon Men’s Tennis Postseason Awards
First Team
Singles
David Biosca, ETSU
Rogerio Ribeiro, ETSU
Jacob Behal, Furman
Randy Phillips, UNCG
Rob Galloway, Wofford
Haris Poric, Wofford

Doubles
David Biosca/Rogerio Ribeiro, ETSU
Cameron Green/Adam Steryous, Furman
Rob Galloway/Walker Heffron, Wofford

Second Team 
Singles (by position)
No. 1 – Adam Steryous, Furman
No. 2 – Austin Akers, Samford
No. 3 – Sam Philp, Mercer
No. 4 – Ben Horst, Furman
No. 5 – Arsav Mohanty, Mercer
No. 6 – Ismael Merino, ETSU

Doubles (by position)
No. 1 – Connor Thompson/Randy Phillips, UNCG
No. 2 – Robert Herrera/Ismael Merino, ETSU
No. 3 – Daniel Mack/Cameron Smith, UNCG

All-Freshman
Artemie Amare, The Citadel
Robert Herrera, ETSU
Cameron Green, Furman
Sam Philp, Mercer
Connor Thompson, UNCG
Parks Schoen, Wofford

Player of the Year
David Biosca, ETSU

Freshman of the Year
Sam Philp, Mercer

Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Luke Saunders, Chattanooga

Coach of the Year
Yaser Zaatini, ETSU

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