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| Kyle Montrel |
NEW ORLEANS — Led by Loic Didavi, a
repeat selection as men's Player of the Year, Xavier University of Louisiana was
well-represented on the 2012-13 All-Louisiana tennis teams announced late
Saturday by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
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| Loic Didavi |
Kyle Montrel
joined Didavi on the men's team — Xavier was the only school with a pair of
first-team men — and was chosen Freshman of the Year. Viktor Svoboda received
honorable mention. Kourtney Howell was selected to the women's first team, and
Alan Green is the women's Coach of the Year.
Both XU teams had their
best seasons ever. The women were the first XU team in any sport to reach No. 1
in an NAIA coaches poll or reach the semifinals of an NAIA National
Championship. The men reached their highest-ever NAIA ranking, fifth, on three
occasions, including the postseason poll. The Gold Rush became the first XU
program to reach the national quarterfinals in consecutive years.
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| Kourtney Howell |
Didavi, a senior from Cotonou, Benin, and a graduate of Lycée Jean Dautet, La
Rochelle, shared the Player of the Year award with LSU sophomore Chris Simpson.
The only two-time first-team NAIA All-American in Gold Rush history, Didavi was
16-6 in singles and 18-5 in doubles this season and was chosen ITA NAIA National
Senior Player of the Year.
"Loic has been a program-changer for our men
since the moment he stepped on campus," Green said. "He has vaulted our team
into a top-5 NAIA ranking for the first time in the program's history, and he
has been our leader on and off the court. In addition to his accomplishments as
a player, he has been our hardest worker in practice. He has been a coach's
dream and will be almost impossible to replace. He also displays good
sportsmanship and respect to the opposing players and coaches."
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| Viktor Svoboda |
Didavi
was 41-12 in singles and 45-13 in doubles in his two Xavier seasons.
Montrel, from Atlanta, Ga., and a graduate of Southwest Atlanta Christian
Academy, was 16-4 in singles and 18-4 in doubles. He led the Gold Rush in
singles and doubles winning percentage and, with Didavi as his partner, won his
first eight doubles matches. In March he became the first XU freshman to reach
the top 30 in the ITA NAIA singles rankings. He set a Gulf Coast Athletic
Conference season record with four player-of-the-week awards, and he received
All-America honorable mention.
"Kyle was a pleasant surprise for us this
season," Green said. "He is by far our most talented guy on the team. He wins
matches by virtue of talent mostly, and he really enjoys the competition of
playing college tennis. Kyle has a very bright tennis future ahead of
him."
Montrel is the Gold Rush's second Louisiana Freshman of the Year
and the first since Cameron Knowles in 2007.
 |
| Alan Green |
Svoboda, a junior from
Kamenice, Czech Republic, and a graduate of Vitezna Plan, was 18-10 in singles
and 20-6 in doubles. He led the Gold Rush in singles victories and won 13 of his
last 15 singles matches, including victories against nationally ranked NAIA
teams Embry-Riddle, William Carey, Belhaven and Northwood (Fla.) and three
victories against NCAA Division I, including a road victory at Southland
Conference runner-up New Orleans. He and Nikita Soifer won 15 of their last 16
doubles matches.
Howell, a junior from Cypress, Texas, and a graduate of
Cypress Woods High School, was 20-11 in singles and 23-11 in doubles, all with
Brion Flowers, and led the Gold Nuggets in singles and doubles victories. Howell
was a first-team NAIA All-American, a three-time GCAC Player of the Week and led
the Nuggets with eight dual-clinching victories. She and Flowers were No. 1 in
the ITA NAIA doubles rankings of April 17.
"Kourtney is the one person
on the team I can always count on to go above the call of duty as a
student-athlete," Green said. "We have received numerous compliments from
referees this season, and most of it is because of the leadership Kourtney
provides to her teammates."
Howell and Flowers were the USTA/ITA NAIA
South Regional doubles runner-up during the fall. It was the first time the Gold
Nuggets reached the finals of that event.
Green, in his 10th season at
Xavier, won the women's coaching award for the second time and the first time
since 2009. He was the men's Louisiana Coach of the Year in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
His women finished 19-8 and were 12-1 against ranked NAIA opponents, including
victories on consecutive April days against Auburn Montgomery and William Carey,
the finalists at the NAIA National Championship. The Gold Nuggets had a
program-record 11-dual win streak from March 26-May 16. Green was chosen the
women's ITA NAIA National Coach of the Year.
An LSWA panel of sports
information directors selected the teams.
2012-13 All-Louisiana Tennis
WOMEN
FIRST TEAM
Klaudia Gawlik, freshman, McNeese State
Kourtney Howell,
junior, Xavier
Polina Konop, junior, Northwestern State
Emma Levy, senior,
Tulane
Ella Taylor, freshman, LSU
Renee Villarreal, freshman, Southeastern
Louisiana
Klara Vyskocilova, junior, Tulane
SECOND TEAM
Medy
Blankvoort, junior, Louisiana-Monroe
Isabel Brito, senior, Southeastern
Louisiana
Joanna Nalborska, freshman, Louisiana Tech
Alexandra Starkova,
freshman, Louisiana Tech
Demetria Woods, senior, Southern
PLAYER OF
THE YEAR: (tie) Klaudia Gawlik, McNeese State; Klara Vyskocilova,
Tulane
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Klaudia Gawlik, McNeese
State
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Valya Rusakova, Southeastern
Louisiana
COACH OF THE YEAR: Alan Green, Xavier
HONORABLE
MENTION
Sandra Ahlqvist, Louisiana-Lafayette
Andrea Nedorostova,
Northwestern State
MEN
FIRST TEAM
Rick
DeGroot, junior, Louisiana-Lafayette
Loic Didavi, senior, Xavier
Dmitry
Kozionov, senior, Nicholls State
Dominik Koepfer, freshman, Tulane
Kyle
Montrel, freshman, Xavier
Chris Simpson, sophomore, LSU
SECOND
TEAM
Damian Farinola, sophomore, Louisiana-Lafayette
Hunter Johnson,
freshman, Louisiana-Lafayette
Idan Mark, senior, Tulane
Hossam Meligy,
senior, New Orleans
Nico Mertens, freshman, Nicholls State
Rui Silva,
sophomore, New Orleans
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: (tie) Loic Didavi,
Xavier; Chris Simpson, LSU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Kyle Montrel,
Xavier
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Rui
Silva, New Orleans
COACH OF THE YEAR: Jeff Brown,
LSU
HONORABLE MENTION
Mark Bowtell, LSU
Viktor Svoboda,
Xavier
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- Athletics Director Bill Hayes of Winston-Salem State, who is at the top of his game as an administrator, has been rewarded with a three-year contract extension.
