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Belmont’s Hendrik Inno and Austin Peay’s Lidia Yanes Garcia headline the postseason accolades as they were both selected as 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Players of the Year as voted on by the leagues head coaches.
Inno went unblemished during conference play this season as he helped lead the Bruins to winning the regular season OVC title and earning the top seed in the conference tournament. The sophomore was 13-5 overall and ended conference play on an eight-match win streak, including a huge win against Tennessee Tech’s Eduardo Mena to stay undefeated.
Austin Peay’s Lidia Yanes Garcia garnered her third consecutive Player of the Year honor as she went 24-6 overall and 8-1 in conference play. The junior also was named to the All-OVC First Team for the third time.
Aljaz Kaplja from Jacksonville State was voted on as Men’s Freshman of the Year leading the Gamecocks at the No.1 Singles position and going 3-3 in conference play. Austin Peay’s Fabienne Schmidt was tabbed the Women’s Freshman of the Year after going 20-5 overall and 7-2 in conference in her first campaign in the OVC.
The Men’s Coach of the Year is Belmont’s Mauricio Antun, in just his second season as head coach. Antun guided the Bruins to a 13-10 overall record, while going 6-0 in conference play.
Eastern Kentucky’s Rob Oertel was selected as the Women’s Coach of the Year. In his 17
th season with the Colonel’s the team went 14-8 overall and 9-0 in conference.
Here is the breakdown of the First and Second All-OVC Teams:
2018 All-Ohio Valley Conference Men's Tennis Teams
First Team:
Hendrik Inno, Belmont
Eduardo Mena, Tennessee Tech
Ramon van Flymen, Eastern Kentucky
Almantos Ozelis, Austin Peay
Aljaz Kaplja, Jacksonville State
Marko Ilic, Belmont
Second Team:
Vincent Sterkens, Belmont
Wencesiao Albin, Tennessee Tech
Freddie O'Brien, Eastern Illinois
Parth Aggarwal, Eastern Kentucky
Marc Mila, Tennessee Tech
Pablo Caffarena, Jacksonville State
Player of the Year: Hendrik Inno, Belmont
Freshman of the Year: Aljaz Kaplja, Jacksonville State
Coach of the Year: Mauricio Antun, Belmont
2018 All-Ohio Valley Conference Women's Tennis Teams:
First Team:
Lidia Yanes Garcia, Austin Peay
Laura Argente, Eastern Kentucky
Jui Yun Chang, Murray State
Fabienne Schmidt, Austin Peay
Kristina Lagoda, Eastern Kentucky
Stella Cliffe, Eastern Illinois
Oleksandra Doroshenko, Southeast Missouri State
(Seven players appear on the First Team due to a tie)
Second Team:
Genevie Ulanday, Jacksonville State
Anastassyia Sharapova, Murray State
Aarja Chakraborty, Murray State
Alex Belle, Eastern Kentucky
Grace Summers, Eastern Illinois
Viktorija Demencekova, Eastern Kentucky
Kseniya Zonova, Southeast Missouri State
Helena Kuppig, Austin Peay
(Eight players appear on the Second Team due to a tie)
Player of the Year: Lidia Yanes Garcia, Austin Peay
Freshman of the Year: Fabienne Schmidt, Austin Peay
Coach of the Year: Rob Oertel, Eastern Kentucky