SoCon men's tennis postseason awards announced

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU’s Oscar Martinez has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, as the league announced its 2026 awards on Wednesday. The Citadel’s Brady Gober has been named the SoCon Freshman of the Year, while Buccaneers coach Ricky Rojas earned SoCon Coach of the Year honor. The Citadel’s Ted Bagwell was named the winner of the Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award.
 
Postseason balloting was conducted by the league’s eight head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
 
Martinez becomes the seventh different player to be named SoCon Player from ETSU. The junior from La Guaira, Venezuela, enters postseason action with an 18-1 singles mark, including a 6-1 ledger in SoCon play. Martinez, who played all 19 of his matches at the No. 1 spot for the Bucs, was named SoCon Player of the Week on six occasions during the season. In doubles play, Martinez had a 15-2 record in the regular season, playing all but two of those matches alongside Martin Vergara. Martinez and Vergara both earned first-team all-conference recognition as singles players and were named to the first team as a doubles tandem as well.

Gober is The Citadel’s third SoCon Freshman of the Year selection. The product of Buford, Georgia, picked up nine singles wins this season, including a 4-3 mark in SoCon play. Gober, who was a second-team all-conference selection at singles, combined with Bagwell for nine wins in doubles as well.

 
Rojas earned his third SoCon Men’s Coach of the Year accolade after leading the Bucs to a 19-3 overall record and a perfect 7-0 mark in league action. Under Rojas’ tutelage, the Buccaneers have not suffered a defeat since January.
 
Bagwell is the fifth Bulldog to win the Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship award. The Douglas, Georgia, native posted a 10-20 mark in singles play, logging the most singles wins for The Citadel this season.

Mercer’s Nemanja Stefanovic and Hod’Abalo Isak Padio, UNCG’s Tymofiy Khrystyuk and Chattanooga’s Jakub Jupa rounded out the singles All-SoCon first team. Stefanovic and Padio earned a spot as a tandem on the doubles first team, and Samford’s Darcy Nicholls and Sandeep Mohandoss claimed the final spot as a first-team doubles selection.

 
Joining Gober, Nicholls and Mohandoss as singles second-team All-SoCon picks were Furman’s Nico Snyder, Samford’s Sebastian Harrison and Chattanooga’s Julian Franzmann. The second team for doubles consisted of Snyder alongside Nicolas Dispas, Jupa with Cortland Grove and the Samford duo of Lukas Dvorak and Cooper Errey.

Gober and Dvorak were joined on the all-freshman team by Furman’s Landon Ecarma and Finn Pollard, UNCG’s Hector Nissen and Wofford’s Val Dubin.
 
The SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship begins Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with all eight league teams vying for the title.
 
2026 Southern Conference Player of the Year
Oscar Martinez, ETSU
 
2026 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year
Brady Gober, The Citadel
 
2026 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Ricky Rojas, ETSU
 
2026 Southern Conference Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Ted Bagwell, The Citadel

2026 All-Southern Conference Men’s Tennis
First team
Singles
Oscar Martinez, ETSU

Martin Vergara, ETSU
Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer

Hod’Abalo Isak Padio, Mercer

Tymofiy Khrystyuk, UNCG
Jakub Jupa, Chattanooga

Doubles
Oscar Martinez/Martin Vergara, ETSU

Hod'Abalo Isak Padio/Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer
Darcy Nicholls/Sandeep Mohandoss, Samford
 
Second team
Singles
Brady Gober, The Citadel

Nico Snyder, Furman

Sebastian Harrison, Samford

Sandeep Mohandoss, Samford

Darcy Nicholls, Samford

Julian Franzmann, Chattanooga

Doubles
Nico Snyder/Nicolas Dispas, Furman

Lukas Dvorak/Cooper Errey, Samford
Jakub Jupa/Cortland Grove, Chattanooga
 
All-Freshman Team
Brady Gober, The Citadel

Landon Ecarma, Furman

Finn Pollard, Furman

Hector Nissen, UNCG

Lukas Dvorak, Samford

Val Dubin, Wofford