St. John's University Athletics
Mladenov & Vucic Earn All-BIG EAST Conference Honors
4/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 26, 2012
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - After leading the St. John's men's tennis team to arguably its most successful campaign in program history, a pair of first-year players in junior Vasko Mladenov and sophomore Ilija Vucic have been named to the All-BIG EAST Conference Team, as announced by league officials on Thursday afternoon.
Led by 11th-year head coach and defending BIG EAST Coach of the Year Eric Rebhuhn, the Red Storm tied a program-record with 17 dual match wins, reached its highest national ranking of No. 50 in the nation, picked up a program-best four wins over nationally-ranked opponents and went an unprecedented 10-1 at home this season. The Red and White entered the 2012 BIG EAST Championship as the No. 3 seed, defeated Marquette in the quarterfinal round and finished in fourth place for the second-straight season.
Mladenov, a transfer from the University of Texas, highlighted St. John's season by becoming the program's first player to ever win the ITA Northeast Regional Championship and qualify for the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championship. Mladenov, who climbed to the highest individual ranking in program history of No. 27 in the nation, tallied 15 singles victories and 15 doubles wins on the campaign. It's the first postseason honor for the former Big 12 Singles Champion. He was named October's BIG EAST Player of the Month and was selected as the league's player of the week on April 3, to become the third Red Storm honoree in a one month span.
Vucic, a native of Belgrade, Serbia, led STJ with an 18-5 record in singles play in his first season with the Red Storm, tying the most wins since teammate Mike Lampa went 18-2 his freshman campaign. The sophomore went 10-3 at the No. 3 position and highlighted his season with seven-consecutive victories in a two-week span. Vucic finished the season with 12 doubles wins, including seven at the No. 1 slot. The honor is the first postseason award for Vucic, who was also named BIG EAST Player of the Week on March 27.
Notre Dame's Greg Andrews earned BIG EAST Player of the Year honors, while Louisville rookie Sebastian Stiefelmeyer was named the conference's Freshman of the Year. U of L head coach Rex Ecarma, who guided the Cardinals to their third-consecutive league title, was tabbed Coach of the Year. Below is a list of the full All-BIG EAST Team.
To stay up to date with the St. John's men's tennis team throughout the offseason, follow the squad on Twitter (@STJ_Tennis) and use the #stjtennis hashtag to join the conversation.
BIG EAST Player of the Year
Greg Andrews, So., Notre Dame
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Sebastian Stiefelmeyer, Fr., Louisville
BIG EAST Coach of the Year
Rex Ecarma, Louisville
All-BIG EAST Team
Filip Dzanko, So., DePaul
George Chanturia, Sr., DePaul
Andrew Bruhn, Sr., Georgetown
Andrew Carter, Sr., Louisville
Sebastian Stiefelmeyer, Fr., Louisville
Albert Wagner, Fr., Louisville
Dan Mamalat, So., Marquette
Greg Andrews, So., Notre Dame
Sam Keeton, Sr. Notre Dame
Casey Watt, Sr., Notre Dame
Vasko Mladenov, Jr., St. John's
Ilija Vucic, So., St. John's
Wael Kilani, Sr., USF
Federico Sabogal, So., USF
