SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior Connor Thompson won his second-consecutive Southern Conference Player of the Year award after another dominating season in 2018. Thompson finished the 2018 spring regular season 16-4 and was a perfect 7-0 at No. 1 singles in SoCon matches. He becomes the third Spartan to win Player of the Year honors twice, joining Alex Lehnhoff and Orcun Seyrek.
Thompson was named First Team All-SoCon in singles and doubles play, marking the second-straight season he's been a two-time First Team honoree. Freshman Nico Grewe teamed up with Thompson to be one of the top doubles pairings in the SoCon. This is Grewe's first All-SoCon honor. A trio of Spartans earned Second Team All-SoCon honors. Freshman Ollie Palmer earned the nod in singles action, with the pair of Marcus Vidgren and Logan Walker taking home the honors in doubles play. Palmer also earned SoCon All-Freshman honors for his performance this season.
Thompson dropped the first match of the season, but responded by winning three-straight. After dropping back-to-back matches for the first time in two seasons, Thompson went on to win his next 12-straight matches before falling in non-conference play. He ended the regular season with a straight-set win over Chattanooga's Niklas Gerdes. This season, Thompson won in straight sets 12 times and of his four losses, he battled to three sets in two. In doubles play, Thompson worked with two partners before finding a groove with Grewe. The pair won six of its last seven matches to end the year, earning wins in SoCon play over pairs from Mercer, The Citadel and Chattanooga.
Ollie Palmer took home the next individual honor, earning Second Team All-SoCon and SoCon All-Freshman honors. Palmer competed at flights two and three throughout much of the season, earning a 13-7 record and a 5-2 mark in SoCon play. Palmer started his first spring season by winning six-straight matches before suffering his first loss. He earned SoCon wins over opponents from Samford, Mercer, The Citadel, Wofford and Chattanooga. He closed the season strong, winning four of his last five and three straight headed into the SoCon Tournament.
The doubles team of Walker and Vidgren ended the season with a 5-5 overall mark, but were dominant in SoCon play, earning a 5-1 record. The paring won its first match together, knocking off a pair from Samford early in the year. Over the last few weeks, Walker and Vidgren have competed at No. 2 doubles and earned wins over pairs from Furman, Mercer, The Citadel and Wofford.
First Team
Singles
Sergi Fontcuberta, ETSU
Robert Herrera, ETSU
Cameron Green, Furman
Sam Philp, Mercer
Olivier Stuart, Mercer
Connor Thompson, UNCG
Doubles
Cameron Green/Jake Munns, Furman
Sam Philp/Oliver Stuart, Mercer
Connor Thompson/Nico Grewe, UNCG
Second Team
Singles (by position)
No. 1 – Lucas Cerbelli, Wofford
No. 2 – Ollie Palmer, UNCG
No. 3 – Edu Villar, Wofford
No. 4 – Fernando Guardia, Mercer
No. 5 – Aleksandar Petrovic, Samford
No. 6 – Miguel Este, ETSU
Doubles (by position)
No. 1 – Jake Faundez/Eduardo Lourido, Samford
No. 2 – Marcus Vidgren/Logan Walker, UNCG
No. 3 – Sergi Fontcuberta/David Gonzalez, ETSU
All-Freshman
Ivan Mitric, Furman
Ollie Palmer, UNCG
Aleksandar Petrovic, Samford
Rossouw Norval, Samford
Edu Villar, Wofford
Omar Williams, Wofford
Player of the Year
Connor Thompson, UNCG
Freshman of the Year
Ivan Mitric, Furman
Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Niklas Gerdes, Chattanooga
Coach of the Year
Eric Hayes, Mercer
The men's tennis team returns to the court at the SoCon Tournament in Chattanooga as the fourth seed and will take on Samford at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning.
-UNCG-
