2008 SAC Men's And Women's Tennis Awards Announced

Tusculum's Garcia, Carson-Newman's Bartlett, Lincoln Memorial's Rollet named Players of the Year

ROCK HILL, SC – Tusculum College’s Carlos Garcia, who went 15-1 during the regular season and went undefeated in conference play, was named the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, while Carson-Newman College’s Amanda Bartlett, and Lincoln Memorial University’s Kathleen Rollet were named co-Players of the Year in women’s tennis.

The awards were presented Friday during the semifinals of the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tennis Tournament, played at the Rock Hill Tennis Center in Rock Hill, S.C.

Garcia, playing at No. 3 singles, was 7-0 in SAC matches, and won his last 12 singles matches heading into the tournament.

Carlos Garcia

Amanda Bartlett

Kathleen Rollet

Koeche Smith

Taryn Cappadonna

Preston Sneed

Julia McKinzie

Tommy Arnett

Jean Love

Bartlett, a sophomore from Powder Springs, Ga., helped lead Carson-Newman to the women’s conference championship as her team’s No. 1 player. Rollet went 14-2 in singles as Lincoln Memorial’s No. 1 player, including going undefeated in conference play.

Mars Hill College’s Koeche Smith (Nassau, Bahamas), who went 12-4 overall and 7-0 in the SAC as the Lions’ No. 2 singles player, was named the Men’s Freshman of the Year.

Carson-Newman’s Taryn Cappadonna (Kennesaw, Ga.), the Lady Eagles’ No. 2 singles player, was named the Women’s Freshman of the Year.

Tusculum’s Tommy Arnett was named the Men’s Coach of the Year and Carson-Newman’s Jean Love was named the Women’s Coach of the Year. Arnett guided the Pioneers to the league crown and earned Coach the Year honors for the third time in his career. Love guided the Lady Eagles to their first-ever SAC championship and wins the award for the first time.

Carson-Newman’s Preston Sneed was named Men’s Tennis Scholar Athlete, winning the award for the second year in a row. Catawba’s Julia McKinzie was named the Women’s Tennis Scholar Athlete.

Conference champion Tusculum led the way with five men’s All-Conference selections. Joining Garcia on the First Team are Sergio Espinosa and Nicolas Bigler.

Mars Hill had two First Team All-Conference selections in Smith and John Allen.

Carson-Newman had two All-Conference picks. Giuseppe Schwartz was named to the First Team.

Catawba’s Sean Soltan and Lincoln Memorial’s Hannes Ganss round out the men’s All-Conference First Team.

Wingate had three Second Team All-Conference honorees, while Newberry placed a pair of men on the Second Team.

Conference champion Carson-Newman led the way on the women’s side with three selections to the All-Conference First Team. Elizabeth Sneed joined Bartlett and Cappadona on the First Team.

Tusculum also had three All-Conference selections. Bronwyn Hartley and Jennifer Sparks were selected to the First Team.

Rollet, McKinzie and Newberry’s Lauren Hartley, round out the women’s All-Conference First Team.

Catawba and Lincoln Memorial each had an additional All-Conference selection to the Second Team. Mars Hill had two Second Team All-Conference picks and Wingate placed one on the Second Team.

The South Atlantic Conference All-Conference Teams are selected by the head coaches in the league.

Sneed has a 3.83 GPA with a double major in Spanish and financial economics.

He is Carson-Newman’s number three player and plays number one doubles.

He is a member of Alpha Chi honor society and has served for two years as president of Sigma Delta Pi, Carson-Newman’s Spanish honor society. He was an ESPN The Magazine Third Team Academic All-American in 2007.

Sneed is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and Students in Free Enterprise, a pair of academic and service clubs. He helps lead 757 Ministry, a group that worked to raise $30,000 last year for a well to be built in Africa. He also volunteers at Junior Achievement, where he tutors school children.

McKinzie is a four-time All-Conference selection and holds the school record for career doubles wins. She ranks fourth in school history with 44 singles wins.

She has a 3.8 GPA as a biology major and is in the Alpha Chi and Phi Epsilon honor societies, as well as the Beta Beta Beta national biology honor society.

She volunteers in the labor and delivery ward at Rowan Regional Medical Center and has participated in Operation Christmas Child and the United Methodist Action Reachout program.

2008 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE TENNIS AWARD WINNERS

MEN’S FIRST TEAM
Giuseppe Schwartz, Carson-Newman
Sean Soltan, Catawba
Hannes Ganss, Lincoln Memorial
Koeche Smith, Mars Hill
John Allen, Mars Hill
Carlos Garcia, Tusculum
Sergio Espinosa, Tusculum
Nicolas Bigler, Tusculum

MEN’S SECOND TEAM
Preston Sneed Carson-Newman
Lucas Mattos, Newberry
Felipe Sobrinho, Newberry
Henrique Rodrigues, Tusculum
Leo Guaycurus, Tusculum
Mitchell Lvovsky, Wingate
Braeden Patchell, Wingate
Jose Valarezo, Wingate

COACH OF THE YEAR – Tommy Arnett, Tusculum

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Koeche Smith, Mars Hill

PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Carlos Garcia, Tusculum

SAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE – Preston Sneed, Carson-Newman

WOMEN’S FIRST TEAM
Amanda Bartlett, Carson-Newman
Elizabeth Sneed, Carson-Newman
Taryn Cappadona, Carson-Newman
Julia McKinzie, Catawba
Kathleen Rollet, Lincoln Memorial
Lauren Hartley, Newberry
Bronwyn Hartley, Tusculum
Jennifer Sparks, Tusculum

WOMEN’S SECOND TEAM
KT Rebadow, Catawba
Ashley Halvorson, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kate Meiners, Lenoir-Rhyne
Martina Rezic, Lincoln Memorial
Adriana Borda, Mars Hill
Patty La Rovere, Mars Hill
Katelyn Doss, Tusculum
Kara Stasikelis, Wingate

COACH OF THE YEAR – Jean Love, Carson-Newman

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Taryn Cappadonna, Carson-Newman

Co-PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Amanda Bartlett, Carson-Newman
Co-PLAYER OF THE YEAR –Kathleen Rollet, Lincoln Memorial

SAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE – Julia McKinzie, Catawba

SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE SENIOR AWARDS

Carson-Newman
Preston Sneed

Catawba
Meri Cartmill
Julia McKinzie
KT Rebadow

Lincoln Memorial
Marcello Galafassi
Rachel Redmond
Martina Rezic
Kathleen Rollet
Sophie Denlinger

Mars Hill
John Allen
Drew Belton
Rachel Hall

Newberry
Danielle Beckerle
Chanelle Clare
Lauren Hartley
Bethany Poppe

Tusculum
Sergio Espinosa
Carlos Garcia
Bronwyn Hartley