Three Cajuns Tabbed To LSWA All-Louisiana Men’s Tennis Teams

Contact: Jeff Schneider

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Ragin' Cajuns men's tennis team had three players tabbed the LSWA All-Louisiana Tennis Team, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association announced last week.

“Louisiana, on a college setting, has some very good teams in the state.” Jeffrey said. “You now have three power house teams in LSU, Tulane, and Louisiana. I felt that our players were well represented and it shows our program continues to move in the right direction.”

Junior Rick de Groot was the lone first team selection for the Cajuns, while Hunter Johnson and Damian Farinola were second team selections.

De Groot posted 14 wins in both singles and doubles en route to a First Team All-Sun Belt selection in singles. The Pekala, Holland native was also a Second Team All-Sun Belt doubles honoree and was named SBC Athlete of the Week on March 20.

He helped guide the Ragin' Cajuns to a 15-win season for the second straight season anchoring the team at the No.1 position in both singles and doubles. During the season, de Groot defeated two of the top players in the state in UNO's Rui Silva (6-1, 6-2) ranked No.110 nationally at the time and Tulane's Idan Mark (6-1, 5-7, 6-3), while also going 2-1 against nationally ranked doubles teams.

“Rick had a really solid season, especially at the end of the year when it counted the most,” head coach Mark Jeffrey noted. “I was most impressed by his consistency in singles and doubles, and that shows in his selection as First Team All-Louisiana. Rick continues to improve. There were many results this year that he turned around from the year before marking improvement from one year to the next. That is what it is all about is development from year to the next. Rick has worked hard to achieve and become one of the best players in the Sunbelt Conference.”

Johnson also notched 14 wins in singles competition while turning in 13 wins in doubles. He had a team-best six-match win streak defeated players from No.54 Miami and No.62 North Florida and finished the season on a strong note winning four of his last five matches in singles. Paired with twin brother Yates Johnson, Hunter became the first Ragin' Cajuns freshman duo to post 10-plus doubles wins in over two decades.

“For Hunter Johnson to come in as a freshman and perform the way that he did and to be recognized on the All-Louisiana Team just highlights his achievements and what a great year he had,” Jeffrey stated. “Hunter is a hard worker with high goals for next year, and we look for him to be one of our leaders next year.”

Farinola was also tied for the team lead in wins with 14 while going 3-1 in doubles. The sophomore started at the No.6 line for the Cajuns at the beginning of the season and moved his way up to the No.3 position by the end of the year garnering the teams best winning percentage. Farinola was strong during the season as he did not lose consecutive matches all season long and won all 14 of his matches in straight sets.

“Damian had a great year also,” Jeffrey mentioned. “All of his hard work really paid off toward the end of the season by not losing a match at conference. Damian is definitely one of the hardest workers on the team as he is very self-motivated. As a coach you like to see those players be rewarded and recognized. Damian will again be one of the players we look to next year for not only his play on the court, but also his tenacious team spirit to help lift us and become one of the elite teams next year.”

LSWA All-LOUISIANA TENNIS TEAM

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR (tie): Loic Didavi, Xavier; Chris Simpson, LSU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Kyle Montrel, Xavier
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Rui Silva, UNO
COACH OF THE YEAR: Jeff Brown, LSU

MEN'S FIRST TEAM
NAME, SCHOOL/YEAR/HOMETOWN/NOTES
Rick DeGroot, Louisiana-Lafayette/Jr./Pekala, Holland/First Team All-SBC
Loic Didavi, Xavier/Sr./Cotonou, Benin/2013 NAIA National POY, 2012 LSWA POY
Dmitry Kozionov, Nicholls State/Sr./Ivhevsk, Russia/First-Team All-SLC Singles & Doubles
Dominik Koepfer, Tulane/Fr./Furtwanger, Germany/C-USA Freshman of the Year
Kyle Montrel, Xavier/Fr./Atlanta, Ga./#34 ITA NAIA Singles; 4 time GCAC POW
Chris Simpson, LSU/So./Derby, England/All-SEC 2nd team; NCAA Participant

MEN'S SECOND TEAM
NAME, SCHOOL/YEAR/HOMETOWN/ NOTES
Damian Farinola, Louisiana-Lafayette/So./Adelaide, South Australia/14 singles wins, all in straight sets
Hunter Johnson, Louisiana-Lafayette/Fr./New Braunfels, Texas/14 singles wins, 13 in doubles
Idan Mark, Tulane/Sr./Hod Hashanron, Israel/13-4 in No. 1 doubles, 6-3 at No. 2 singles
Hossam Meligy, UNO/Sr./Cairo, Egypt/ALL-SLC First Team
Nico Mertens, Nicholls/Fr./Hilden, Germany/First Team All-SLC; SLC FOY
Rui Silva, UNO/So./Guimaraes, Portugal/SLC Newcomer of Year; All-SLC second team

HONORABLE MENTION
Mark Bowtell, LSU, Sr., County Wicklow, Ireland; Viktor Svoboda, Xavier, Jr., Kamenice, Czech Republic

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Three Cajuns Tabbed To LSWA All-Louisiana Men’s Tennis Teams

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