Chicago State head tennis coach
Jack Barton was named Horizon League Women's Tennis Coach of the Year the conference office announced today. Barton earns the honor after leading the Cougars women's team to their first conference title in women's tennis in the Division I era. In addition,
Manuella Eloundou was named to the Women's Tennis All-League First Team and
Katarina Dukic and
Sofiya Sedovich were each named to the All-League Second Team. On the men's side, Chicago State's all-time leader in career singles victories,
Pedro Alvarez, was named to the Men's Tennis All-League First Team for the second year in a row.
League coaches voted and the top six players were named to the first team and the next six named to the second team for both men and women. The league also announced the player of the year, coach of the year, freshman of the year and Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award winner for both the men and women. All recipients are listed below.
Barton earns the Women's Coach of the Year honors in Chicago State's second season in the Horizon League where his team's have qualified for the post-season tournament in both seasons. This year's squad clinched a share of the regular season conference title, CSU's first in tennis in the Division I area. Barton achieved a career milestone earlier this season with the women's team when he notched his 100th career-coaching victory with the women on March 3 in a 4-3 victory over Georgia State. Barton is a two-time Chicago State Coach of the Year (2012 and 2016) and he was also named Great West Coach of the Year in 2012.
Eloundou was inserted into the No. 1 singles role mid-February and, after dropping three consecutive decisions at the position, won six matches in a row and seven of nine including two in Horizon League play to give the Cougars a needed boost.
"Manuella has really grown this season and deserves this honor," Barton said. "She has really come through for us in some very tough matches. I am excited that the coaches recognized her for this award."
Dukic, a first-team honoree a season ago, finished the regular season with a 4-2 conference record at No. 2 singles and is 7-3 in her last 10 matches. She now ranks third at Chicago State in career singles victories with 58, just behind twins Rosalina Juan Tejoprayitno (59) and Rosalia Juan Tejoprayitno (61).
"Katarina is the ultimate professional," Barton said. "This is her second year receiving an All-League honor. It's not surprising because she strives for excellence in everything that she does. She is obsessed with being the best. This honor is well deserved."
Sedovich tied for the team lead in singles victories with 13, went 11-2 at No. 3 singles and had a perfect 6-0 mark in Horizon League play. Sedovich ranks eight all-time on CSU's career singles victory list with 45 and ranks second in doubles wins in a season with 26.
"Sofiya is the heartbeat of this team," Barton said. "Her energy and passion shows in everything she does, like no other student-athlete we've had represent CSU Tennis. She is most deserving of this recognition."
Alvarez, who now has been named to all-conference teams for four consecutive seasons, earns this year's honor after earning the same distinction a year ago along with WAC First Team Singles All-Conference honors as a sophomore and First Team All-WAC Singles No. 5 as a freshman. He also earned Second Team All-WAC Doubles in 2021. He is Chicago State's all-time career leader in singles victories with 82, 24 more wins the current runner up, Christian Gonzalez. Alvarez is tops in singles win percentage (.752), third in career doubles wins (56), second in career doubles win percentage (.523), four of the top 10 on the most singles victories in a season list (1st, 5th, 8th and 10th) and holds four of the top five winning percentages on the season singles win percentage list.
"Pedro, in my opinion, is the greatest tennis student-athlete CSU has ever had," Barton said. "I would also argue that he is the best student-athlete in the history of Chicago State. He ranks in the top ten on every record we've recorded in the history of our men's program. He is the best."
While the men's tennis season is complete, the women's team will be the No. 3 seed in the 2024 Horizon League Women's Tennis Championship and will face No. 6 Oakland on Friday, April 26 at 11:30 a.m. CT at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Indiana. Chicago State and Oakland played in the quarterfinals last year, had the same seeds as this year, and Chicago State escaped with a 4-3 win. CSU and Oakland opened conference play this season with the Cougars earning a 7-0 victory over the Golden Grizzlies on March 29 in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. Oakland went 1-5 in conference play with the lone win coming against IUPUI. The winner advances to play Youngstown State, the No. 2 seed, Saturday.
The following are the 2024 #HLTennis All-League awards:
2024 Horizon League Women's Tennis Awards
Player of the Year: Oihane Vicario, Cleveland State
Coach of the Year: Jack Barton, Chicago State
Freshman of the Year: Emilia Jarvinen, Oakland
Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award: Maria Oliveira, Youngstown State
Teams are listed in alphabetical order by school.
Women's Tennis All-League First Team
Manuella Eloundou, Chicago State
Oihane Vicario, Cleveland State
Tereze Vevere, Cleveland State
Ashlee Fisk, Northern Kentucky
Lulia Marko, Youngstown State
Eliska Masarikova, Youngstown State
Women's Tennis All-League Second Team
Katarina Dukic, Chicago State
Sofiya Sedovich, Chicago State
Sima Heren, Cleveland State
Bethany Yauch, Cleveland State
Babette Burgersdijk, Milwaukee
Einor Beazley, Youngstown State
Women's Tennis Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award Finalists
Helin Alvarez, Chicago State
Filippa Frogner, Cleveland State
Gabbie Orlando, IUPUI
Babette Burgersdijk, Milwaukee
Ashlee Fisk, Northern Kentucky
Isabelle Popma, Oakland
Maria Oliveira, Youngstown State*
2024 Horizon League Men's Tennis Awards
Player of the Year: Alfred Wallin, Belmont
Coach of the Year: Brian Etzkin, Cleveland State
Freshman of the Year: Lincoln Battle, Cleveland State
Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award: Dylan Brown, Southern Indiana
Men's Tennis All-League First Team
Ian Cruz, Belmont
Tomas Luis, Belmont
Alfred Wallin, Belmont
Pedro Alvarez, Chicago State
Lincoln Battle, Cleveland State
Nick Nienhaus, Northern Kentucky
Men's Tennis All-League Second Team
Mikael Erler, Cleveland State
Josef Zapletal, Northern Kentucky
Taj Hibbert, Tennessee State
Nil Moinet, Tennessee State
Alex Alvarez, Tennessee Tech
Onder Balci, Youngstown State
Nishant Dabas, Youngstown State
Men's Tennis Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award Finalists
Tomas Luis, Belmont
Kade Mindry, Cleveland State
Thomas Wallace, Eastern Illinois
Kamil Kozerski, IUPUI
Brandon Ponomarew, Northern Kentucky
Dylan Brown, Southern Indiana*
Jonasz Dziopak, Tennessee State
Asier Pena Ibanez, Youngstown State
About Chicago State Athletics
Chicago State University sponsors 16 Division I intercollegiate athletic teams and competes in the Northeast Conference (effective July 2024) with the exception of men's and women's tennis who will compete in the Horizon League during the 2024-25 season. CSU's athletic program includes over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, triathlon and volleyball.
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