April 26, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky. — For the first time in school history, an impressive total of five Kentucky men’s tennis players have been named All-Southeastern Conference performers, including four Wildcats named first-team selections, the league office announced Thursday.

Seniors Eric Quigley and Alex Musialek, junior Anthony Rossi and sophomore Panav Jha were all named to the first team, while sophomore Tom Jomby was named second team All-SEC. Quigley, Musialek and Rossi earned the selection due to their high rankings in singles, while Jha was named to the first team after a top-10 ranking in doubles with Quigley. Jomby was selected by vote to the second team.

“These awards are voted on by the best coaches in the best conference in the nation,” UK head coach Dennis Emery said. “These coaches know how hard our players have worked this season and it is great to see them reward our players with these awards. We are very happy for our guys. These are all well deserved.”

This is the first time in school history that UK has had four players named first-team All-SEC in the same season. The previous record was three back in the 1988 season when Rich Benson, Mario Rincon and Greg Van Emburgh were named to the first team. Kentucky has never had five players receive All-SEC first- or second-team honors in the same season.

UK junior Anthony Rossi is ranked 21st in the nation in singles.

Quigley was also named SEC Player of the Year. A complete release on his honor can be found here.

Musialek is having a great senior season, holding a 28-10 overall record, including a 14-5 mark in dual matches and a 7-3 record in SEC matches. The senior has won seven of his last eight matches, including five against ranked foes. The co-captain’s biggest accomplishment this season was earning his 100th career singles victory, becoming only the 14th player in school history to claim that honor. Musialek is 106-47 in his singles career. The native of Dax, France, has been ranked in the top 25 in singles all season long, currently sitting at No. 15.

This is the first career first-team selection for Musialek, who previously was named a second-team performer in 2010 and 2011. Musialek is one of only six Kentucky players all-time to earn three or more first- or second-team All-SEC selections, joining Quigley, Witten, Kauffmann, Van Emburgh and All-American Bruno Agostinelli.

Rossi has busted onto the scene as one of the best players in the SEC this season after winning the SEC Coaches’ Indoor Singles Championship earlier this year. The junior is a strong 36-6 this season overall and 21-4 in dual matches. The star has been ranked in the ITA singles poll all season long, peaking at No. 13.

Sophomore Panav Jha has been great in doubles for UK this season.

Rossi is currently ranked 21st, which is his seventh consecutive top-30 ranking. The native of Marseille, France, has won six consecutive matches this season with wins over eight ranked players in dual matches. Rossi and Musialek are currently ranked 45th nationally in doubles.

This is the first career first-team selection for Rossi and the second All-SEC selection of his career. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman team in 2010. Last weekend, Rossi was named to the SEC All-Tournament team.

Jha’s first-team selection comes after an impressive season in doubles with Quigley, with the duo currently ranked eighth in the nation. The native of Pointe Claire, Montreal, becomes the ninth player in school history to earn a first-team All-SEC selection as an underclassman. Jha and Quigley have been ranked in the ITA doubles polls nearly all spring, sitting in the top 20 for five straight weeks. The duo is 12-10 on the season, including 5-3 in SEC play. Jha and Quigley have defeated nine ranked doubles teams this spring.

The second-team selection for Jomby is the second All-SEC honor of his career after he was named to the SEC All-Freshman team last season.

Tom Jomby finished second on the team with eight SEC wins this season.

The sophomore had a fantastic SEC season, finishing second on the team in SEC wins with an 8-2 record at the No. 4 singles position. Overall this fall, Jomby was 18-6, including his clinching point at No. 3 Georgia. Jomby went 2-1 in the SEC Tournament for Kentucky, earning All-Tournament honors. Jomby has been ranked in singles all season long, peaking at No. 67. He currently is 80th.

UK (26-5) will now wait to hear about an at-large selection into the NCAA Tournament. The selections for the tournament will be broadcast live on NCAA.com on May 1 at 5:30 p.m. ET. Kentucky has hosted the first and second rounds of the event in each of the past three seasons.

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow “UKMensTennis” on Twitter or like “University of Kentucky men’s tennis team” on Facebook.

2012 Southeastern Conference Men’s Tennis Awards

Coach of the Year: Dennis Emery, Kentucky
Player of the Year: Eric Quigley, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Nik Scholtz, Ole Miss
Scholar Athlete of the Year: Charlie Jones, Vanderbilt

All-SEC First Team

Andreas Mies, Auburn
Alex Stamchev, Auburn
KU Singh, Georgia
Wil Spencer, Georgia
Panav Jha, Kentucky
Alex Musialek, Kentucky
Eric Quigley, Kentucky
Anthony Rossi, Kentucky
Nik Scholtz, Ole Miss
Marvel Thiemann, Ole Miss
Louis Cant, Mississippi State
Artem Ilyushin, Mississippi State
Mikelis Libietis, Tennessee

All-SEC Second Team

Ricky Doverspike, Alabama
Tripper Carleton, Florida
Bob van Overbeek, Florida
Nassim Slilam, Florida
Sadio Doumbia, Georgia
Ignacio Taboada, Georgia
Tom Jomby, Kentucky
Olivier Borsos, LSU
Neal Skupski, LSU
Jonas Lutjen, Ole Miss
Hunter Reese, Tennessee
Charlie Jones, Vanderbilt
Gonzales Austin, Vanderbilt

All-Freshman Team

Nathan Pasha, Georgia
Chris Simpson, LSU
Nik Scholtz, Ole Miss
Andrew Adams, South Carolina
Mikelis Libietis, Tennessee
Hunter Reese, Tennessee
Gonzales Austin, Vanderbilt