Feucht Earns Southland Men’s Tennis Player of the Year Honors
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Lamar junior Michael Feucht has been selected as Southland Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, the league office announced Thursday, in conjunction with the release of all-conference teams.
Abilene Christian’s Joshua Sheehy was named Southland Freshman of the Year and sophomore teammate Hunter Holman earned newcomer of the year honors, while Lamar head coach Scott Shankles was selected as the league’s coach of the year.
Feucht had a dominating year at the No. 1 singles position, going 4-0 in league play and a 13-5 overall dual match record on the spring season. Along with partner Benny Schweizer, the Augsburg, Germany, native defeated the nation’s ninth-ranked doubles team. The junior netter becomes the third player in school history to be named player of the year, and the first since Filip Kanczula in 2008. Feucht was named the league player of the week three times this season.
Sheehy’s freshman of the year honors comes after a season where he was named player of the week on three difference occasions. The Arlington, Texas (Grace Preparatory Academy), native posted a 15-9 overall dual record in singles, with his three conference losses coming at the hands of all-conference players. The freshman got off to a great start, posting a 10-match winning streak early in the season. During the streak he was able to tally wins over the No. 58 and No. 53 players in the nation.
Holman, a transfer from Texas Tech, immediately contributed to his team this season by helping the Wildcats go from a 10-16 record in the 2015 season to 19-9 in 2016. He led the team with 18 victories, 14 of which were at the No. 4 flight. Holman went 4-1 against conference competition, winning three in straight sets, to finish the year with a 7-3 record in his last 10 matches.
Lamar men's tennis head coach Scott Shankles led the Cardinals to a 15-5 record this season, ending with a 4-0 victory over defending regular-season champions Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Shankles guided the team to an 5-0 league record and the school's first regular-season championship since 1976.
The all-conference singles first team was comprised of Feucht (4-0 SLC) at the No. 1 slot, A&M-Corpus Christi’s Ricardo Mayagoitia (4-1 SLC) in the No. 2 flight, and No. 3 Nico Agritelley (4-1 SLC) of Abilene Christian. Benny Schweizer (4-1 SLC) from Lamar earned the No. 4 position while fellow Cardinal Jeandre Hoogenboezen (5-0 SLC) took the fifth slot. Lamar’s Juuso Laitinen (4-0 SLC) took the sixth and final spot.
A&M-Corpus Christi’s Javier Pujol (No. 3), Guillaumi Rauseo (No. 4) and Arthur Bedel (No. 5) along with UIW’s Josip Smoljan (No. 1), Lamar’s Nikita Lis (No. 2), and Nicholls’ Bernard Wezerman (No. 6) all make up the singles second team.
Lamar’s Feucht and Schweizer, who were 3-1 at No. 1 doubles in league play this season, earned first-team doubles honors. Lamar’s No. 2 doubles team of Hoogenboezen and Lis earned an undefeated league record (4-0) and first-team honors. Sheehy and Sebastian Langdon of Abilene Christian were undefeated in the Southland at the No. 3 flight, playing their way to a 4-0 record and the final doubles spot.
Second-team doubles featured Kevin Bettendroffer and Arthur Bedel (No. 1) of A&M-Corpus Christi, Jason Proctor and Paul Domanski (No. 2) of Abilene Christian and Lamar’s Laitinen and Sebastian Santibanez (No. 3).
The 2016 All-Southland Conference men's tennis teams are comprised of six first-team and six second-team singles members and three first-team and three second-team doubles squads. Teams are chosen by vote of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Recipients are placed on the teams by the number of votes received. Voting panelists are not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.
This is the first year for the league to recognize all-conference by flight for the singles and doubles positions.
The 2016 Southland Men's Tennis Tournament begins Saturday at the Schlief Tennis Center in Nacogdoches, Texas. First-round semifinal action begins at 10 a.m. The championship match is slated for Sunday at 11 a.m. Admission is free to all matches of the tournament and more information can be found by visiting
Southland.org.
2016 All-Southland Conference Men's Tennis Teams and Individual Awards
Player of the Year: Michael Feucht, Lamar
Freshman of the Year: Joshua Sheehy, Abilene Christian
Newcomer of the Year: Hunter Holman, Abilene Christian
Coach of the Year: Scott Shankles, Lamar
First-Team Singles
No. 1 Michael Feucht, Lamar
No. 2 Ricardo Mayagoitia, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 3 Nico Agritelley, Abilene Christian
No. 4 Benny Schweizer, Lamar
No. 5 Jeandre Hoogenboezem, Lamar
No. 6 Juuso Laitinen, Lamar
Second-Team Singles
No. 1 Josip Smoljan, UIW
No. 2 Nikita Lis, Lamar
No. 3 Javier Pujol, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 4 Guillaume Rauseo, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 5 Arthur Bedel, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 6 Bernard Wezerman, Nicholls
Singles Honorable Mention
No. 1 Kevin Bettendroffer, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 2 Jason Proctor, Abilene Christian
No. 3 Gonzalo Garcia, New Orleans
No. 4 Hunter Holman, Abilene Christian
No. 5 Henry Adams, Abilene Christian
No. 6 Paul Cook, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
First-Team Doubles
No. 1 M. Feucht/B. Schweizer, Lamar
No. 2 J. Hoogenboezem/N. Lis, Lamar
No. 3 J. Sheehy/S. Langdon, Abilene Christian
Second-Team Doubles
No. 1 K. Bettendroffer/A. Bedel, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 2 J. Proctor/P. Domanski, Abilene Christian
No. 3 J. Laitinen/S. Santibanez, Lamar
Doubles Honorable Mention
No. 1 K. Cronin/O. Podgursky, Nicholls
No. 2 G. Rauseo/R. Mayagoitia, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
No. 3 E. Karatzas/S. Meessen, Nicholls