INDIANAPOLIS – Drury University sophomore Andy Blair has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, it was announced by the conference office at the 2012 GLVC Tennis Championship banquet Thursday evening in Springfield, Mo. Blair joined 15 other standouts on the 2012 All-Conference team, which included Lewis’ Erik Aunapuu, the 2012 GLVC Freshman of the Year.
A native of Nordhorn, Germany, Blair compiled a 14-3 singles record and a 13-4 mark in doubles at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions on the year. He is currently ranked No. 34 in the nation in singles and holds a spot at No. 23 in doubles with teammate Sergio Manzanas. Blair, who also earned Freshman of the Year and All-Conference accolades last year, helped guide the Panthers to a 14-3 mark this season, including a perfect 6-0 mark in conference play to claim the outright GLVC West Division title.
Aunapuu was honored as the GLVC’s top freshman after posting an 18-1 record at the Nos. 1 and 2 singles positions, as well as a 16-3 mark at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. The Tallinn, Estonia, native was a Player of the Week selection back in February and becomes the first Lewis freshman to take home the conference’s top newcomer award since teammate Uno Lapimaa was honored in 2009.
Lapimaa, who then went on to claim the 2010 and 2011 GLVC Player of the Year awards, earned All-Conference distinction for the fourth consecutive season. In fact, Lapimaa was unanimously selected as the No. 1 player by each team in the East Division.
Joining Blair, Aunapuu and Lapimaa on the 16-member squad were Bellarmine’s Anton Rabinov, Drury’s Manzanas, Roman Gonda and Lukas Kriem, Lewis’ Armand Levandi, Northern Kentucky’s Martin Leroy, Quincy’s Ian Hinkamper, Rockhurst’s Yassir El Ghazi and John Lazenby, Southern Indiana’s Ben Boesing, Santiago Lopez and Juan Quiroz, and William Jewell’s Shane Giannetti.
The 2012 GLVC Coach of the Year will be awarded to the coach of the winning team at the conclusion of the 2012 GLVC Men’s Tennis Championship, which runs Friday and Saturday, April 20-21, in Springfield, Mo.
2012 GLVC ALL-CONFERENCE
Anton Rabinov, So., Bellarmine
Andy Blair, So., Drury
Roman Gonda, Jr., Drury
Lukas Kriem, So., Drury
Sergio Manzanas, So., Drury
Erik Aunapuu, Fr., Lewis
Armand Levandi, Fr., Lewis
UNO LAPIMAA, SR., LEWIS
Martin Leroy, Sr., Northern Kentucky
Ian Hinkamper, Fr., Quincy
Yassir El Ghazi, Jr., Rockhurst
John Lazenby, Jr., Rockhurst
Ben Boesing, Jr., Southern Indiana
Santiago Lopez, So., Southern Indiana
Juan Quiroz, Jr., Southern Indiana
Shane Giannetti, So., William Jewell
Unanimous Selection in ALL CAPS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Andy Blair, Drury
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Erik Aunapuu, Lewis
COACH OF THE YEAR
Winner of GLVC Championship