NORFOLK, Va. – Five different ODU men's tennis student-athletes were named to an All-Conference USA team on Tuesday afternoon, headlined by Luca Maldoner earning Co-Player of the Year honors and Tomislav Podvinski being named the Co-Newcomer of the Year. Old Dominion had the most players collect postseason recognition by the league. This marks the fourth time over the past five years that a student-athlete from ODU has claimed the C-USA Player of the Year Award.
"I'm so happy for our players that were honored for their outstanding seasons," said Mueller. "We had a fantastic team season up to the point of cancellation and some phenomenal individual performances and these conference awards validate the accomplishments our players achieved from September to March. Having five different players honored shows the depth on our team and why we were so successful. Having three different Conference USA Players of the Year in the past four years should make us proud as a program, in terms of how we keep developing our players. I can't wait to translate that into next seasons success."
Luca Maldoner – Co-Player of the Year, First Team Singles, First Team Doubles
Luca Maldoner had an overall record of 18-6 for the year, as he went 8-2 in dual matches all at position No. 1 or No. 2. Maldoner was ranked for the majority of the Spring season in singles and doubles; as high as No. 93 in singles and No. 35 in doubles with partner Nicola Vidal. He had two wins over players that were nationally ranked at the last published singles rankings, as well as two additional wins over players that were ranked at the time of the victory. He was the C-USA Tennis Athlete of the Month in the Fall and two-time Athlete of the Week in the Spring. The Innsbruck, Austria-native made the finals of the ITA Atlantic Regionals and was the only singles player from the C-USA to qualify for the ITA Fall Nationals. His UTR rose from 12.13 when the fall semester started to 13.33 when the season ended. Maldoner also garnered All-State First Team honors for both singles and doubles.
Tomislav Podvinski - Co-Newcomer of the Year, Second Team Singles
Tomislav Podvinski had an overall record of 17-4 for the year, as he went 9-1 in dual matches mainly at position No. 3. He had an eight-match winning streak in the Spring. Podvinski was named the C-USA Athlete of the Month in October. The Zagreb, Croatia-native clinched dual matches against SMU, Liberty, Yale and Elon. He won the River City Open A Draw in doubles with partner Luca Maldoner.
Francois Musitelli – First Team Singles, First Team Doubles
Francois Musitelli had an overall record of 12-6 for the year and 11-1 in dual matches (all at position No. 1 or No. 2). He had two wins over players that were nationally ranked in the last published singles ranking (No. 33 Joshua Charlton and No. 113 Karl Poling). The Dijon, France-native finished the season on a seven-match win-streak. Musitelli was named the C-USA Athlete of the Week in the Spring. He also earned All-State First Team honors for singles, as well as doubles.
Jannik Giesse – First Team Doubles
Jannik Giesse and teammate Francois Musitelli went 14-5 together for the year and compiled 4-1 mark in dual matches in the No. 1 slot. They were ranked No. 69 nationally in the last published ITA doubles rankings and were ranked as high as No. 47 during the season. Giesse/Musitelli beat the No. 9 ranked team from Dartmouth. ODU's duo won the ITA Atlantic Regionals and qualified for the ITA Fall Nationals. They also made a run to the last round of qualifying at the UTA All-Americans. Giesse was an All-State First Team honoree for doubles.
Nicola Vidal – First Team Doubles
Nicola Vidal and teammate Luca Maldoner went 7-2 together for the year and put together a 4-2 record in dual matches (all at position No. 1). They were ranked No. 35 nationally in the final ITA doubles rankings. Vidal/Maldoner beat the No. 9 ranked team from Princeton. They also won the UVA Orange and Blue Doubles C Draw in the Fall with wins over Columbia, Virginia and Penn State. Vidal was named to the All-State Doubles First Team.
2020 Conference USA Men's Tennis Superlative Awards
Co-Player of the Year – Luca Maldoner, Old Dominion
Co-Player of the Year – Chris Edge, Middle Tennessee
Freshman of the Year – Sebastian Rodriguez, UTSA
Co-Newcomer of the Year – Tomislav Podvinski, Old Dominion
Co-Newcomer of the Year – Maxime Lapraille, Florida Atlantic
Coach of the Year – Jimmy Borendame, Middle Tennessee
All-Conference USA Singles
First Team
Chris Edge, Middle Tennessee
Tom Moonen, Middle Tennessee
Luca Maldoner, Old Dominion
Francois Musitelli, Old Dominion
Sumit Sarkar, Rice
Juri Reckow, UTSA
Second Team
Henry Lieberman, Charlotte
Ben Wayand, Charlotte
Maxime Lapraille, Florida Atlantic
Pavel Motl, Middle Tennessee
Tomislav Podvinski, Old Dominion
Sebastian Rodriguez, UTSA
All-Conference USA Doubles
First Team
Ben Wayand/Henry Lieberman, Charlotte
Luca Maldoner/Nicola Vidal, Old Dominion
Francois Musitelli/Jannik Giesse, Old Dominion
Second Team
Chris Edge/Tom Moonen, Middle Tennessee
Pavel Motl/Stijn Slump, Middle Tennessee
Sumit Sarkar/Conrad Russell, Rice
Maldoner & Podvinski Headline C-USA Awards; Five Monarchs Earn All-League Accolades
