May 19, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
Kentucky men’s tennis senior Bruno Agostinelli was recently named the Southeast Region Senior Player of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) the national tennis organization’s home office announced.
It is the first honor from the ITA for Agostinelli. The award is voted on by coaches within the Southeast region. Other teams in the region besides Kentucky include fellow tennis powers Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida.
Agostinelli is one of eight regional winners in the running for ITA’s National Senior Player of the Year to be chosen this week during the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in College Station, Texas.
“One of the great things about Bruno’s award is that it is based on several criteria,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “Part of it is based on character; another piece is the improvement shown from your freshman to senior year. Bruno has clearly shown improvement based on those scales and is an impeccable choice for the regional player of the year.”
Agostinelli reached the No. 2 spot nationally in early March. The senior captain and partner Brad Cox were ranked among the top-25 doubles teams all season. Agostinelli led the Wildcats to three NCAA team tournament appearances in his four years. The Niagara Falls, Canada, native is only the second Wildcat all-time to win All-SEC honors all four seasons at UK.
During UK’s final home stand of the regular season last month, Agostinelli earned his 100th career singles victory. He carries a 34-13 singles record this year including a win last fall over then-No.1 Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State. Additionally, Agostinelli tallied four straight wins against 2008 NCAA Singles Finalist John-Patrick Smith of Tennessee this season.
Agostinelli will compete in both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships for the second straight season. He begins singles play as the fifth seed Wednesday at host Texas A&M University’s Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station.
Click UKathletics.com for all of the latest Kentucky men’s tennis news.
Farnsworth/ITA Senior Player of the Year
Northeast – Chris Clayton (Harvard)
Mideast – Cory Parr (Wake Forest)
Southeast – Bruno Agostinelli (Kentucky)
Midwest – Bryan Koniecko (Ohio State)
Central – Arnau Brugues (Tulsa)
South Central – Conor Pollock (Texas A&M)
Mountain – Johnny Parkes (New Mexico)
West – Thong Tu (San Francisco)
