VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – South Carolina State head coach Hardeep Judge was named the 2009 Men’s MEAC Coach of the Year Thursday, while senior Ivan Milivojevic was named Men’s Player of the Year along with freshman Aniko Kiss earning Rookie of the Year honors, as voted by the leagues’ head tennis coaches and sports information directors.
Hampton University’s Na-Hyun Baek was named the 2009 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women’s Tennis Player of the Year and Bethune-Cookman head coach Trey Bogue earned Women’s Coach of the Year accolades.
Milivojevic posted a 3-0 mark in the southern division and an 11-5 overall record at the number one single’s position. In doubles action, he recorded a 9-6 record including a 3-0 mark in conference play.
The 2009 Coach of the Year honor is the third on the men’s side for Judge, who also earned MEAC Women’s Coach of the Year accolades in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Under his tutelage, the Bulldogs have won four of the last five MEAC tennis titles. During his eight year tenure at South Carolina State, his men’s and women’s programs have each posted over 100 victories. This season the Bulldogs posted a 3-0 record in the southern division for the second straight season and concluded the regular season with an 11-6 record.
Kiss who was unbeaten in the southern division with a 4-0 mark and tallied a 12-4 overall record at the number three singles position. In doubles action, she recorded a 10-5 mark including a 4-0 southern divisional sweep.
Joining Baek and Kiss on the Women’s First-Team are Bethune-Cookman’s Monika Musilova and Florida A&M’s Rachel Pye. South Carolina State teammates Daria Sekerina and Fanni Fricska complete the first-team.
Along with Milivojevic and Mattos, South Carolina State’s Tomas Dobrotka and Radek Pivonka earned Men’s First-Team honors. Florida A&M’s Artiom Podgainii and Howard’s Michael Gee also earned all-conference honors.
Two Bulldogs also earned Second-Team accolades on the women side it was junior Iveta Blodniece of Ringa, Latvia and for the men’s sophomore Gabriel Meana of Gijon, Spain.
The MEAC Tennis Championships will begin on Friday, April 17 at 8:30 a.m. Tennis action continues on Saturday with semifinal play beginning 8:30 a.m. for the women and noon for the men. The championships conclude on Sunday, April 19 beginning at 9 a.m. with the women’s championship final followed by the men’s championship finale at 11:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
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