DALLAS – Rice’s Sumit Sarkar was voted the 2019 Conference USA Men’s Tennis Player of the Year after dominating at the first line for the Owls all season. The sophomore finished the dual season with a 17-5 record, the second-most wins at Rice at the top lineup spot since 1994. He is ranked 44^th nationally in singles, 40^th in doubles along with Eric Rutledge and 56^th paired with Conrad Russell. The New York, New York, native won his last five matches against ranked opponents, including a victory over then No. 4 Christian Sigsgaard of Texas. He is set to compete at the 2019 NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championship later this month.
 
Florida Atlantic’s Mehdi Laalej was tabbed Newcomer of the Year. The graduate transfer sported a dual match record of 19-3 in his sole year with the Owls for the most singles wins on the team. The Meknes, Morocco, product also led the team with five clinching points and was a perfect 4-0 in league matchups. From February 9 to March 30, Laalej did not lose a singles match, going 14-0 with one match unfinished over 15 contests.
 
Also earning an award for the Owls is Co-Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship Kirac Bekisoglu. The freshman won all three of his singles matches at the league championship at No. 2. He recorded the clinching point in Florida Atlantic’s semifinals victory over Rice to propel the Owls to their second consecutive finals match.
 
Sharing Co-Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship honors is Middle Tennessee’s Stijn Slump. The freshman went 2-1 in singles at the No. 2 spot, with his biggest win coming in the quarterfinals against UTSA. Slump clinched the match for the Blue Raiders to keep their title hopes alive. After falling in the first set, he rebounded to force a third where he saved three-match points for the win.
 
Slump also received Freshman of the Year honors following his impressive championship performance. In his first year with Middle Tennessee, he posted a 9-8 record at the No. 2 spot and tallied three wins at the top of the Blue Raiders’ lineup.
 
Pavel Motl and Gonzalo Morell claimed the Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship Award. The pair paced Middle Tennessee to their first C-USA title, going undefeated at the league championship. Their three wins helped the Blue Raiders secure the doubles point in each of the tournament matches.
 
Rounding out the superlative awards is Coach of the Year Jimmy Borendame of Middle Tennessee. In his ninth season with the Blue Raiders, Borendame compiled an 18-12 record and earned his first C-USA championship title. He led Middle Tennessee to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2012 and guided doubles pair Chris Edge and Tom Moonen, who peaked at No. 52 in doubles rankings by the ITA this season. This is Borendame’s first time receiving the award.
 
Middle Tennessee, Florida Atlantic and Rice lead the league with five all-conference team selections apiece. Old Dominion earned four. All awards are voted on by the conference’s eight head coaches.
 
2019 Conference USA Men’s Tennis Superlative Awards Presented by Ready Nutrition
Player of the Year – Sumit Sarkar, Rice
Freshman of the Year – Stijn Slump, Middle Tennessee
Newcomer of the Year – Mehdi Laalej, Florida Atlantic
Co-Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship – Kirac Bekisoglu, Florida Atlantic
Co-Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship – Stijn Slump, Middle Tennessee
Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship – Pavel Motl/Gonzalo Morell, Middle Tennessee
Coach of the Year – Jimmy Borendame, Middle Tennessee
 
All-Conference USA Singles
First Team
*Luca Keist, Charlotte
*Jason Legall, Florida Atlantic
*Gonzalo Morell, Middle Tennessee
Stijn Slump, Middle Tennessee
*Aziz Kijametovic, Old Dominion
*Francois Musitelli, Old Dominion
*Sumit Sarkar, Rice
 
Second Team
Kirac Bekisoglu, Florida Atlantic
Mehdi Laalej, Florida Atlantic
Pavel Motl, Middle Tennessee
Jannik Giesse, Old Dominion
Jacob Eskeland, Rice
*Eric Rutledge, Rice
Michal Lusovsky, UAB
Javier Rodriguez, UTSA
 
All-Conference USA Doubles
First Team
*Luca Keist/Constandinos Christoforou, Charlotte
*Jason Legall/Ignacio Garcia, Florida Atlantic
*Aziz Kijametovic/Francois Musitelli, Old Dominion
*Sumit Sarkar/Eric Rutledge, Rice
Sumit Sarkar/Conrad Russell, Rice
 
Second Team
Mehdi Laalej/Gabriel Sidney, Florida Atlantic
*Chris Edge/Tom Moonen, Middle Tennessee
Pavel Motl/Gonzalo Morell, Middle Tennessee
Michal Lusovsky/Roman Postolka, UAB
 
*Repeat Honoree