Monday, 06/01/2009

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Alan Green swept the Coach of the Year awards on the All-Louisiana collegiate tennis teams announced late Saturday.
     A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel selected the teams and delivered Green his first All-Louisiana coaching honors.
     Xavier's Anastesia Opata made the women's first team, and Angelina Callis was on the second team. Terry Richardson was a men's first-team selection, and teammate Mikhail Vaval received honorable mention.
     Green, 35 and in his sixth season at Xavier, coached both his teams to top-20 NAIA final rankings, Gulf Coast Athletic Conference championships and first-round victories in the NAIA National Championships. The Gold Rush set a school record with 17 dual-match victories and became the first men's HBCU to qualify for the NAIA nationals since the dual-match format began in 2000. The Gold Nuggets won 19 duals and improved to 4-0 in the first round at nationals.
     Opata, a junior from Lawrenceville, Ga., and Central Gwinnett High School, was 20-5 in singles and 22-3 in doubles this season en route to first-team NAIA All-America honors for the second straight year. Opata was a second-team All-Louisiana selection and the Newcomer of the Year in 2008.
     Callis, a junior from Los Angeles and a graduate of Dorchester (Mass.) High School, was 20-7 in singles and 24-4 in doubles. The second-team NAIA All-American closed the season with 13 consecutive doubles victories with Opata.
     Richardson, a senior from Ellenwood, Ga., and Stockbridge High School, was 17-8 in singles and 18-6 in doubles and was a second-team NAIA All-American. He was chosen to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 6 at-large first team in the college division. Richardson was second-team All-Louisiana in 2007 and 2005.
     Vaval, a sophomore from New Orleans and De La Salle High School, was 12-9 in singles and 14-7 in doubles. He was All-GCAC in singles and doubles, a two-time GCAC Player of the Week and the ITA/NAIA Region IV (South) Player to Watch.

2009 All-Louisiana Women's Tennis Team
FIRST TEAM
Megan Falcon, LSU, senior, Alameda, Calif.
Iva Velkovska, Southeastern Louisiana, senior, Skopje, Macedonia
Claire Clark, Louisiana-Monroe, sophomore, Bossier City, La.
Anastesia Opata, Xavier, junior, Lawrenceville, Ga.
Mariam Kurdaze, Tulane, freshman, Tsilisi, Republic of Georgia
Marion Lehmann, Louisiana-Monroe, senior, Besancon, France

SECOND TEAM
Angelina Callis, Xavier, junior, Los Angeles, Calif.
Bianca Schulz, Northwestern State, sophomore, Wiesenstiasse, Germany
Mykala Hedberg, LSU, senior, Oxnard, Calif.
Nicole Kantor, LSU, junior, St. Louis, Mo.
Audrey Chelini, Southeastern Louisiana, freshman, France
Angela Dagond, Louisiana-Lafayette, senior, Bucaramanga, Colombia

Player of the Year:   Megan Falcon, LSU
Newcomer of the Year:   Kozue Matsumoto, New Orleans
Freshman of the Year:   Mariam Kurdaze, Tulane
Coach of the Year:   Alan Green, Xavier

Honorable Mention:   Staten Spencer, LSU; Kozue Matsumoto,
New Orleans; Kathrin Lange, Northwestern State
            2009 All-Louisiana Men's Tennis Team
FIRST TEAM
Michael Venus, LSU, senior, Orlando, Fla.
Terry Richardson, Xavier, senior, Ellenwood, Ga.
Piotr Banas, Louisiana-Lafayette, junior, Warsaw, Poland
Javier Pulgar, Louisiana-Lafayette, freshman, Madrid, Spain
Calvin Kemp, New Orleans, freshman, Atlanta, Ga.
Guillaume Capovin, Southeastern Louisiana, senior, France

SECOND TEAM
Neil Skupski, LSU, freshman, Liverpool, England
Arlen Domoney, Louisiana-Lafayette, senior, Capetown, South Africa
Ben Smith, New Orleans, sophomore, Ipswich, England
Benjamin Enke, Southeastern Louisiana, junior, Germany
Sebastian Carlsson, LSU, sophomore, Uppsala, Sweden
Damien Cordoba, Southeastern Louisiana, freshman, France

Player of the Year:   Michael Venus, LSU
Newcomer of the Year:   Guillaume Capovin, Southeastern Louisiana
Freshman of the Year:   Javier Pulgar, Louisiana-Lafayette
Coach of the Year:   Alan Green, Xavier

Honorable Mention:   Jan Bezdecka, Southeastern Louisiana;
Julien Roussel, Southeastern Louisiana; Mikhail Vaval, Xavier