Fayetteville, N.C. - The USA South Athletic Conference has announced its 2018 All-Conference awards for men's tennis, with North Carolina Wesleyan sweeping the individual awards. Senior Sebastian Sikh was named Player of the Year, freshman Roberto Puig collected Rookie of the Year honors, and their coach, Albie Brice, earned Coach of the Year accolades.
Sikh, a senior from Eskilstuna, Sweden adds his second consecutive USA South Player of the Year to his career awards as he was also named Rookie of the Year in 2015. Playing the entire season at the #1 singles position, Sikh has posted a 15-4 overall record with a perfect 6-0 mark versus USA South opposition. Sikh, in fact, is currently the eighth ranked player in the ITA Division III Atlantic South Region rankings. At various doubles spots this season, Sikh has teamed with four different partners to earn a 16-6 overall record with a 7-0 mark in League action. For his efforts, Sikh earned First Team All-Conference honors for the fourth consecutive year, as well as First Team East Division accolades for the second straight spring. Finally, he collected USA South Player of the Week honors four times this season and also represented NCWC on the conference's All-Sportsmanship Team.
A freshman from Malaga, Spain, Puig has compiled a 21-2 overall record with a perfect 9-0 mark in USA South singles action this season. In doubles play, Puig has predominantly anchored the #1 position, earning a 14-8 overall record with a 9-0 mark in league play. For his efforts this season, he collected First Team All-Conference and First Team East Division honors. Finally, Puig was named USA South Rookie of the Week twice this year.
Brice, in his first full year year back at the helm of the program, received his first career USA South Men's Tennis Coach of the Year honor. He has guided the Battling Bishops to a 16-3 overall record and the program's tenth consecutive year with an unblemished Conference record (10-0). N.C. Wesleyan collected its tenth straight League regular season title as the program has now won 100 consecutive matches over USA South opposition. Brice will now take his squad into the USA South Tournament as the East Division top-seeded team and the nine-time defending champions.
Also garnering recognition for the Bishops were junior Ioannis Brokakis and freshman Aditya Iyer. Brokakis was a First Team East Division honoree, while Iyer earned an Honorable Mention nod after combining to go 17-0 in league singles action at mainly the #2 and #3 seeds. The two also teamed with Puig and J.D. Telles, respectively, to go 18-0 in USA South doubles play at the top two seeds.
To view the entire 2018 USA South All-Conference Team in the sport of men's tennis, please visit http://usasouth.net/sports/mten/2017-18/releases/20180330la94o9