Big South Announces 2024 Men's Tennis Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (
www.BigSouthSports.com) – Gardner-Webb’s
Eduardo Dias (Parana, Brazil) has been voted the 2024 Big South Men’s Tennis Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches, it was announced Thursday. Runnin’ Bulldogs’ head coach
Mike Griffith was voted Coach of the Year, Presbyterian College’s
Evgenios Vasilakis (Athens, Greence) was selected Freshman of the Year by the group, and Radford’s
Evan Edwards (Fayetteville, Ark) was tabbed Newcomer of the Year. UNC Asheville senior
Jon Brann Reid (Hickory, N.C.) was voted Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
Dias is the first Gardner-Webb player to be voted Player of the Year since
Evgeny Slesarev in 2010 and just the second overall. Selected to the Big South All-Conference First-Team for singles and doubles as well as the runner-up in the Player of the Year voting for the past two years, Dias was selected Big South All-Conference First-Team for singles and doubles for the third consecutive spring. Playing in the No. 1 singles spot the entire year for the Runnin' Bulldogs, Dias posted a 19-1 record -- including 18-consecutive victories to start the season. His three-year overall dual match spring singles record now stands at 49-13. The Parana, Brazil native's career doubles record now stands at 34-16 as he was selected First Team All-Conference Doubles for the second consecutive year. This past fall, Dias and doubles partner Chrisjan Van Wyk were ranked No. 32 in ITA doubles national rankings. Dias was also honored five times in 2024 as the Big South Conference Player of the Week.
Vasilakis is the third consecutive Blue Hose player to be voted Freshman of the Year, and the fifth overall. The Athens, Greece native was the Big South Freshman of the Week four times this season (February 28, March 20, April 10, and April 17). He collected eight singles wins, which included a perfect 4-0 record against Big South competition.
Griffith earns his second consecutive Big South Coach of the Year honor and third overall after directing the Runnin’ Bulldogs to the outright Big South regular-season title and No. 1 seed in this weekend’s Big South Men’s Tennis Championship. Gardner-Webb was 4-0 in conference, and its 19-3 overall record is tops in the league as well as a program-record for wins in a season. Gardner-Webb opened the year with a program-record 15 consecutive match victories before losing at nationally-ranked UNC Charlotte. Gardner-Webb is the No. 1 seed for the third time, and is seeking its first Big South conference championship.
Edwards is the first Big South Men’s Tennis Newcomer of the Year, which recognizes the top non-freshman transfer playing in the Big South for the first time. Edwards transferred to the Highlanders from Louisiana and stepped into a large role primarily in singles play. Due to injuries on the team, Edwards played on higher courts than normal early in the season facing talented opposition across the board. In conference play, Edwards earned a pair of big victories defeating opponents from Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian on court six. In some brief appearances in doubles play, he was up against opponents such as BYU and Wake Forest before going unfinished.
Reid carries a 4.00 GPA as a double major in biology and health & wellness promotion. He finished the regular-season with a 14-5 singles record (12-4 primarily at No. 2), in addition to 11-4 in No. 1 doubles for the Bulldogs.
2024 Big South Conference Men's Tennis Award Winners
First Team All-Conference Singles
Eduardo Dias, Gardner-Webb
Freddy Murray, UNC Asheville
Alex Lepine, Gardner-Webb
Sam Nicholson, UNC Asheville
Guilherme Severin, Radford
Timeo Puech, Longwood
First Team All-Conference Doubles
Eduardo Dias / Chrisjan Van Wyk, Gardner-Webb
Rafa Serra / Jon Brann Reid, UNC Asheville
Javier Matos / Denim Yadav, Presbyterian
Numa Lemieux-Monette / Jurie Terblanche, Gardner-Webb
Second Team All-Conference Singles
Numa Lemieux-Monette, Gardner-Webb
Javier Matos, Presbyterian College
David Mamalat, Presbyterian College
Alejandro Hernandez, Longwood
Kim Niethammer, Gardner-Webb
Pedro Cardoso, Presbyterian College
Second Team All-Conference Doubles
Timeo Puech / Alejandro Hernandez, Longwood
Bruno Serra / Cian Ingles, UNC Asheville
Marco Foglieni / David Mamalat, Presbyterian College
Sam Nicholson / Freddy Murray, UNC Asheville
All-Academic Team
Numa Lemieux-Monette, Gardner-Webb
Luis Reis, Longwood
Denim Yadav, Presbyterian College
Charles Courteau, Radford
Jon Brann Reid, UNC Asheville
Player of the Year
Eduardo Dias, Gardner-Webb
Freshman of the Year
Evgenios Vasilakis, Presbyterian College
Coach of the Year
Mike Griffith, Gardner-Webb
Newcomer of the Year
Evan Edwards, Radford
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Jon Brann Reid, UNC Asheville