Djouad Named SoCon Freshman of the Year

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Georgia Southern Men's Tennis rookie Rayane Djouad was named Southern Conference Freshman of the Year as announced today by the league office. The freshman also earned singles Second Team as well All-Freshman Team honors and joins sophomore Andrew Dromsky on the all-conference teams.

Djouad is only the fourth Eagle to be named Freshman of the Year in Georgia Southern history, with Vincent Patry earning the honor most recently in 2003. In addition to receiving the top honor, the rookie was placed on the singles Second Team after his strong play at the No. 2 slot, posting a 6-1 conference record for a league-best winning percentage at that particular position. The France native went an impressive team-leading 14-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the month of March. Additionally, Djouad won both matches at No. 1 after being moved up for the final two matches of the year.

Dromsky was placed on the singles First Team after a 5-3 conference record (8-6 overall), including a 4-3 mark at No. 1. The sophomore picked up crucial match-clinching wins at the top spot against Furman (March 26) and conference leader Elon (April 7), giving the Eagles 4-3 victories in both matches.

Postseason balloting was conducted by the league's head coaches who were not allowed to vote for their own players.

The Eagles will open the 2013 SoCon Tournament on Thursday (April 18) afternoon. No. 6 Georgia Southern will meet No. 11 the Citadel at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center in Elon, N.C. at 1 p.m.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.

2013 SOCON MEN'S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS

First Team
Singles
Cameron Silverman, Elon
Andrew Mellow, Furman
Andrew Dromsky, Georgia Southern
Ahmet Sarioglu, UNCG
Zac Dunkle, Samford
Manuel Barroetavena, Chattanooga

Doubles
Zach Bost/Sebastien King, APP
Cameron Silverman/Stefan Fortmann, Elon
James Dougherty/Randy Phillips, UNCG

Second Team
Singles (by position)
No. 1 – Rob Galloway, Wofford
No. 2 – Rayane Djouad, Georgia Southern
No. 3 – Fares Kilani, Samford
No. 4 – Randy Phillips, UNCG
No. 5 – Austin Akers, Samford
No. 6 – Zack Lewis, College of Charleston

Doubles (by position)
No. 1 – Chris Mark/Kevin Moore, Davidson
Ankit Chopra/Roberto Vieira, Chattanooga
No. 2 – Daniel Mack/Ahmet Sarioglu, UNCG
No. 3 – Jordan Kaufman, Juan Madrid, Elon

All-Freshman Team
Zack Lewis, College of Charleston
Robert Lindgren, Elon
Matt Browne, Furman
Rayane Djouad, Georgia Southern
James Dougherty, UNCG
Fares Kilani, Samford

Player of the Year
Cameron Silverman, Elon

Freshman of the Year
Rayane Djouad, Georgia Southern

Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Joe Schafer, Davidson

Coach of the Year
Michael Leonard, Elon