XU's Montrel, Abbes are repeat All-Louisiana first-team selections

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Kyle Montrel and Nour Abbes are repeat first-team selections on the 2014-15 All-Louisiana tennis teams announced late Saturday.

Montrel is the first Gold Rush player to make the All-Louisiana first team three times.

A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel of sports information directors selected the teams.

Montrel, a junior from Atlanta and a graduate of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, was 14-6 in singles and 15-6 in doubles this year. He won the ITA/NAIA South Region Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship and was a two-time Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week. He was No. 9 in the most recent ITA/NAIA singles rankings, No. 13 in doubles and had five singles victories against top-25 opponents.

Abbes, a sophomore from Tunis, Tunisia, and a graduate of Lycée Sportif d'El Menzah, was 29-4 in singles and 21-9 in doubles. She is No. 1 in the ITA/NAIA singles rankings — never lower than fourth in two seasons — and No. 20 in doubles. She was the NAIA singles champion at the ITA Small College Championships and the "Super Bowl" runner-up in October. She was the singles champion at the HBCU National Championships and a four-time GCAC Player of the Week.

Abbes was 7-0 in singles vs. NCAA Division I opponents, including Tulane, Southern Miss and New Orleans.

Xavier's Manav Chakma was runner-up in voting for men's Newcomer of the Year, Alan Green was third for men's Coach of the Year, and Caroline Vernet tied for fourth for women's Freshman of the Year.

Xavier's men were 13-8 in 2015 and reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship for a school-record fourth consecutive year. Xavier's women were 17-10 and reached the NAIA's national semifinals for a school-record third consecutive year.

(L) Nour Abbes (R)  Kyle Montrel

2014-15 All-Louisiana Tennis

WOMEN
FIRST TEAM
Stephanie Barnett, sophomore, Nicholls State
Joana Vale Costa, sophomore, LSU
Natalya Krutova, junior, Northwestern State
Renee Villarreal, junior, Southeastern Louisiana
Nour Abbes, sophomore, Xavier
Skylar Kuykendall, junior, LSU

SECOND TEAM
Julia Kral, sophomore, McNeese State
Klaudia Gawlik, junior, McNeese State
Petra Horakova, junior, Louisiana-Monroe
Tatiana Larina, senior, Northwestern State
Alexandra Starkova, junior, Louisiana Tech
Abby Owens, sophomore, LSU

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Stephanie Barnett, Nicholls State
Voting: Barnett 5, Vale Costa 4, Krutova 1, Hafsa Laraibi (New Orleans) 1

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Skylar Kuykendall, LSU (only nominee)

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Sarah Jurakova, McNeese State
Voting: Jurakova 4, Vanessa Nommensen (Tulane) 2, Kelly Drew (Louisiana-Lafayette) 2, Jana Duhanova (Louisiana-Monroe) 1, Naz Karragoz (Tulane) 1, Caroline Vernet (Xavier) 1

COACH OF THE YEAR: Meenakshi Sundaram, Nicholls State
Voting: Sundaram 7, Julia Sell (LSU) 2, Terri Sisk (Tulane) 1, Melinda Descant (LSU-Alexandria) 1

MEN
FIRST TEAM
Dominik Koepfer, junior, Tulane
Jordan Daigle, sophomore, LSU
Chris Simpson, senior, LSU
Kyle Montrel, junior, Xavier
Boris Arias, junior, LSU
Constantin Schmitz, freshman, Tulane

SECOND TEAM
Justin Butsch, sophomore, LSU
Kieran Cronin, sophomore, Nicholls State
Bernard Wezeman, sophomore, Nicholls State
Sebastian Rey, sophomore, Tulane
Blake Gregor, senior, New Orleans
Damian Farinola, senior, Louisiana-Lafayette

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Dominik Koepfer, Tulane
Voting: Koepfer 5, Daigle 1

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Jordan Daigle, LSU
Voting: Daigle 5, Manav Chakma (Xavier) 1

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Constantin Schmitz, Tulane
Voting: Schmitz 5, Simon Fruend (LSU) 1

COACH OF THE YEAR: Mark Booras, Tulane
Voting: Booras 3, Jeff Brown (LSU) 2, Alan Green (Xavier) 1


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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