University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Galka Leads The Way For @RaginCajunsMT As SBC Honors Pour In
4/17/2019 12:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Louisiana earns two All-Sun Belt Conference honors in singles and one All-Sun Belt Conference honor in doubles
NEW ORLEANS – Freshman Jan Galka had himself a freshman campaign, going 17-12 playing primarily at No. 1, and he was awarded for his solid first season by earning All-Sun Belt First-Team honors in singles, joining junior Jamie Fraser (second-team singles) and the doubles pairing of senior Arthur Libaud and junior Pearse Dolan (second-team doubles) in collecting Sun Belt All-Conference honors for Louisiana Men's Tennis as announced by the conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Galka becomes the first member from Louisiana to earn first-team honors in singles since Rick De Groot earned the honors in 2014. And for the Ragin' Cajuns this makes it four straight seasons with at least one member earning All-Sun Belt honors in singles, with Galka and Fraser joining junior Elio Lago (2018), Libaud (2016-17) and Edgar Lopez (2016).
GALKA AND FRASER LEAD THE WAY: Galka and Fraser each had great seasons for Louisiana, with Galka going 10-8 during the spring, 8-7 at No. 1 singles, and Fraser finishing 21-8 overall (18-5 in the spring). Fraser became the first to win at least 20 matches in singles for Louisiana since Tomasz Krzyskowski went 20-7 in 2009.
Galka's highlight win came against UTSA's Kai Breitbach, who at the time was ranked 117 in the nation and went 3-2 during conference play in singles. Fraser's highlight win of the season was the clniching win for the Ragin' Cajuns against Nebraska, giving Louisiana its first win over a Power Five program since 2012.
A TOP PAIRING: Libaud and Dolan were a key cog in Louisiana's doubles attack all season long, finishing 12-8 overall when paired together, playing primarily at No. 1 doubles. The two earned a national ranking of No. 53 after taking down the then ranked No. 27 duo from Northern Arizona, and the Louisiana pairing held that ranking during the month of February.
QUOTEABLE:
(Head Coach Mark Jeffrey):
On the Awards:
"This season the guys as a whole have put in a solid campaign with the team earning the most wins since 1986 (21). Our body of work has been good from start to finish and it shows by the awards and honors our guys have gotten."
On Galka's Season:
"Jan has been one of the most consistent players we have had all season long. As a freshmen Jan has taken on the role of playing number one singles which is no easy feat and he has been impressive in the role. He has been consistent in his role going 3-2 in conference play and he has competed against some of the best players in the nation, holding his own in those matches."
On Fraser's Season:
"Jamie has been great for us throughout the season. He has been our most consistent performer at the bottom of the lineup and has really given us stability and big wins for our singles lineup."
On the Libaud/Dolan Pairing:
"Libaud and Dolan got off to a great start going to the semifinals at the Southern Regionals back in Ocotober and the two defeated some of the best teams in the nation during that run. They carried that momentum into the spring and gaining a national ranking during the dual match season was a highlight for Libaud and Dolan and was a highlight for the program as a whole."
2018-19Â SUNÂ BELT MEN'S TENNIS POSTSEASON AWARDS
All-Sun Belt First Team
Singles
Luiz Faria, Coastal Carolina (Sr., Joinville, Brazil)
Jan Galka, Louisiana (Fr., Warsaw, Poland)
Loic Cloes, South Alabama (Jr., Oreye, Belgium)
Guanarteme Nuez, UTA (Sr., Las Palmas, Spain)
Enrique Pardo, UTA (Sr., Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain)
Pelayo Antuña, Troy (So., Gijón, Spain)
Doubles
Giles Hussey (Sr., Swindon, England) and Jack MacFarlane (Sr., Ruislip, England), Georgia State
Loic Cloes (Jr., Oreye, Belgium) and Clement Marzol (Jr., Toulouse, France), South Alabama
Guanarteme Nuez (Sr., Las Palmas, Spain) and Mauricio Rio (Sr., Irapuato, Mexico), UTA
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Singles
Antonio Muniz, Georgia Southern (Fr., Barcelona, Spain)
Giles Hussey, Georgia State (Sr., Swindon, England)
Vazha Shubladze, Georgia State (So., Tbilsi, Georgia)
Jamie Fraser, Louisiana (Jr., Sydney, Australia)
Clement Marzol, South Alabama (Jr., Toulouse, France)
Sacha Modica, South Alabama (Sr., London, England)
Oskar Michalek, Troy (Jr., Swinoujscie, Poland)
Doubles
Luiz Faria (Sr., Joinville, Brazil) and Lawrence Perrin (Jr., Epsom, England), Coastal Carolina
Arthur Libaud (Sr., Les Chenevieres, France) and Pearse Dolan (Jr., Sydney, Australia), Louisiana
Enrique Pardo (Sr., Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) and Eduard Simo (So., Barcelona, Spain), UTA
Sun Belt Player of the Year
Luiz Faria, Coastal Carolina (Sr., Joinville, Brazil)Â
Sun Belt Player to Watch
Loic Cloes, South Alabama (Jr., Oreye, Belgium)
Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year
Vazha Shubladze, Georgia State (So., Tbilsi, Georgia)
Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
Antonio Muniz, Georgia Southern (Fr., Barcelona, Spain)Â
Sun Belt Coach of the Year
Chris Powers, Coastal Carolina
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Players Mentioned
