PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The BIG EAST Conference announced Wednesday that Louisville senior Austen Childs and USF senior Lucas Jovita have been chosen as the 2011 BIG EAST Men’s Tennis Players of the Year.
The conference also announced the selection of Notre Dame’s Greg Andrews as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and St. John’s head coach Eric Rebhuhn as BIG EAST Coach of the Year.
Childs becomes a three-time winner of the BIG EAST Player of the Year honor after he went 30-10 overall and 21-5 in dual matches at the No. 1 singles spot in the 2010-11 season. He was 26-10 overall and 20-5 in dual matches in doubles play. Childs was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2011 BIG EAST Championship after helping the Cardinals to their second straight BIG EAST title and a spot in the NCAA Championship. Childs is ranked No. 16 nationally in singles play and No. 18 in doubles in the final ITA rankings of the regular season. In addition to competing with the Cardinals in the NCAA team championship, Childs is an automatic qualifier to both the NCAA singles and doubles brackets as well.
Jovita was tabbed as BIG EAST Player of the Year after he went 19-8 overall and 14-7 in singles play and 16-8 overall and 14-7 in dual matches in doubles play for USF in 2010-11. Jovita finished the year with three consecutive straight-set wins in the BIG EAST Championship, helping the Bulls to a third-place finish in the team standings. He earned final ITA rankings of No. 76 in singles and No. 58 in doubles, just one year after missing the entire 2009-10 season with a shoulder injury.
Andrews earned BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors after he went 23-14 overall and 15-10 in dual matches in singles, playing primarily at the No. 4 position on a deep Notre Dame team. He was 25-9 overall and 19-6 in dual matches in doubles play.
Rebhuhn was chosen as BIG EAST Coach of the Year after he took a St. John’s team that was unranked at the beginning of the 2010-11 season to a final national ranking of No. 75 and a fourth-place finish at the BIG EAST Championship. Rebhuhn led the Red Storm to a 17-8 dual match record in 2010-11, setting a program record for wins in his 10th year at St. John’s.
In addition to the individual honors claimed by Louisville, USF, Notre Dame and St. John’s, those schools also placed a combined 12 players on the All-BIG EAST Team. Notre Dame led the way with four selections while Louisville and USF had three players each named to the team. St. John’s had two players chosen, while DePaul had one.
BIG EAST Players of the Year
Austin Childs, Sr., Louisville
Lucas Jovita, Sr., USF
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Greg Andrews, Fr., Notre Dame
BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Eric Rebhuhn, St. John’s
All-BIG EAST Team
George Chanturia, Jr., DePaul
Austen Childs, Sr., Louisville
Simon Childs, Sr., Louisville
Viktor Maksimcuk, Sr., Louisville
Greg Andrews, Fr., Notre Dame
Stephen Havens, Sr., Notre Dame
Daniel Stahl, Sr., Notre Dame
Casey Watt, Jr., Notre Dame
Milo Hauk, Jr., St. John’s
Mike Lampa, So., St. John’s
Wael Kilani, Jr., USF
Lucas Jovita, Sr., USF
Frederico Sabogal, Fr., USF
