SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU’s Dimitri Badra has been named the 2021 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, as announced by the league on Thursday. Samford’s Rahim Esmail was named the league’s Coach of the Year, earning his first nod and the first men’s tennis coach of the year honor for Samford in league history.
Chattanooga’s Turner Voges has earned the league’s Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award. Chattanooga has earned five of the last six Sportsmanship Awards. Postseason balloting was conducted by the league’s head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
Badra is ETSU’s first Player of the Year selection since 2016 and league-leading ninth overall. He finished the regular season 13-4 overall and 6-1 in conference play and is ranked 63rd nationally by the ITA. The five-time SoCon Player of the Week also went 11-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play in in doubles, alongside teammate Miguel Este. Badra, a Maracay, Venezuela, native becomes just the second player in league history to be tabbed as the Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season, joining UNCG’s Orcun Seyrek (2009).
Esmail was named Coach of the Year by his peers, helping Samford to a 13-7 record and 6-1 mark in league play, the school’s best conference record since 2016. The Bulldogs earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship.
Five others joined Badra on the first team, including teammate Frazier Rengifo (11-6, 5-1 SoCon), who was named to the first team for the second straight season. Furman placed Ivan Mitric (12-7, 5-2), also a two-time honoree, on the squad, while Samford’s Rossouw Norval (10-8, 4-3), a second-team selection a season ago, also earned a spot. Chattanooga’s Tomas Rodriguez (11-8, 4-3) and Wofford’s Omar Williams (10-7, 5-2), Wofford’s first first-teamer since 2017, rounded out the first team.
Furman’s Jake Bhangdia and Henrik Atlevi (5-2 SoCon), Samford’s Victor Chaw and Jim Hendrikx (4-1) and Chattanooga’s Tomas Rodriguez and Peyton Gatti (6-1) comprised the all-conference first team in doubles.
The all-conference second team was composed of two Furman players, two Samford players, and one each from ETSU and Mercer. ETSU’s Juan Lugo was honored for the Bucs, while Atlevi and Bhangdia were selections for Furman. Mercer placed Lucas Wayenburg, while Samford’s Chaw and Eladio Fabregas were honored for the Bulldogs.
Badra and Este earned a spot on the all-conference second team for doubles, as did Wayenburg and Hugo Lobo for Mercer. Wofford’s Williams and Bryce Keim rounded out the team.
The coaches also selected an All-Freshman Team, which featured an extra player due to a tie in the voting. Badra was joined on the team by teammates Thiago Pernas and Juan Sebastian Zabala, Furman’s Emil Westling, Samford’s Hendrikx, Chattanooga’s Jeffrey Dewald and Wofford’s Ashe Ray.
The 2021 Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Championship begins Friday, April 23, in Hoover, Alabama, and features No. 1 ETSU, No. 2 Samford, No. 3 Furman and No. 4 Mercer.
2021 SoCon Men’s Tennis Postseason Awards
Player of the Year
Dimitri Badra, ETSU
Freshman of the Year
Dimitri Badra, ETSU
Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Turner Voges, Chattanooga
Coach of the Year
Rahim Esmail, Samford
First Team
Singles
Dimitri Badra, ETSU
Frazier Rengifo, ETSU
Ivan Mitric, Furman
Rossouw Norval, Samford
Tomas Rodriguez, Chattanooga
Omar Williams, Wofford
Doubles
Jake Bhangdia/Henrik Atlevi, Furman
Victor Chaw/Jim Hendrikx, Samford
Tomas Rodriguez/Peyton Gatti, Chattanooga
Second Team
Singles
Juan Lugo, ETSU
Henrik Atlevi, Furman
Jake Bhangdia, Furman
Lucas Wayenburg, Mercer
Victor Chaw, Samford
Eladio Fabregas, Samford
Doubles
Miguel Este/Dimitri Badra, ETSU
Hugo Lobo/Lucas Wayenburg, Mercer
Omar Williams/Bryce Keim, Wofford
All-Freshman
Dimitri Badra, ETSU
Thiago Pernas, ETSU
Juan Sebastian Zabala, ETSU
Emil Westling, Furman
Jim Hendrikx, Samford
Jeffrey Dewald, Chattanooga
Ashe Ray, Wofford
*features seven players due to a tie in the voting /
* Student-athletes that would have been eligible for all-freshman consideration last year before the season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic are eligible to be considered for this season’s all-freshman awards.
-www.SoConSports.com-