Men's Tennis Earns Two ITA Regional Awards Tuesday

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's tennis team received two regional awards on Tuesday as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced their men's awards. Senior Nicola Vidal was named the Atlantic Region Most Improved Senior, while freshman Cosme Rolland De Ravel earned Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year honors.
 
These are the first regional awards for the men since 2018, when they also won a pair as Vincent Schneider was named Atlantic Region Most Improved Senior and Adam Moundir was Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year.
 
Returning to the lineup this spring after a near fatal car accident in the fall of 2021, Vidal finished 14-9 in singles playing mainly at line six in the dual match season. He won his first two matches in the fall season with victories over Princeton and LSU at the Princeton Invitational in late September. Vidal ran off five wins in a row and went 10-2 during the mid-point of the year, which included wins over Clemson, Liberty, Presbyterian, Virginia Tech and St. John's.
 
"Nico's story has been talked about and I am glad his comeback has been recognized nationally," said ODU Head Coach Dominik Mueller. "He worked so hard after his accident to get back on court and contribute for our team, so I believe it was a no brainer for him to get this award after missing out last season."
 
Rolland De Ravel had an impressive rookie season as he was 25-10 in singles and a combined 25-8 in doubles. He earned Second Team All-Sun Belt singles honors after going 7-1 in conference action. Rolland De Ravel had a season best winning streak of seven matches and ended the year winning 10 of his last 13. He avenged an earlier loss to South Alabama with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the conference title match to put the Monarchs one point from the championship.
 
In doubles, he mainly teamed with Francois Le Tallec as those two combined for a 17-4 record this year. They clinched the doubles point in the Sun Belt title match against South Alabama as they went 15-1 at line three on the season and ended the year going 10-1 in their final 11 finished matches.
 
"Cosme made his freshman year look easy. He embraced the intensity of college tennis like a veteran and improved his game since the first day he stepped on campus," Mueller said. "There were so many quality freshman in our region this year, for him to be recognized as the rookie of the year speaks for his determination."