Men's Tennis Yearly Honors for Polk, Garcia and Webb
The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the 2018 Men’s Tennis All-Conference teams, as voted on by the conference’s coaches. In addition, the Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year have been selected.
Player of the Year: Danny Polk, Stevens
Senior Danny Pollk has been voted the Empire 8 Player of the Year. It marks the eighth straight season a student-athlete from Stevens has claimed the top honor.
Polk helped lead Stevens to an unprecedented ninth consecutive E8 title as he was named the tournament MVP. The Mechanicsville, VA native has posted a current 11-6 mark at first singles and a 3-2 record at second singles. In doubles, Polk has played a majority of matches with Bryan Szayna as the duo is 8-1 at first doubles and 7-2 at second doubles. In conference only matches, Polk went undefeated in both singles and doubles competition.
Rookie of the Year: Louis-Guillaume Garcia, Houghton College
For first time in program history, the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year is from Houghton College. Louis-Guillaume Garcia posted a 22-7 combined record in 2017-2018. Garcia held down the first position in the Houghton singles lineup going 10-3 in dual matches and also added a 2-1 record at third singles. He also played second doubles with Jake Fisler and finished the season at 10-3. In conference matches he logged a 7-1 mark in singles and a 6-1 record in doubles.
Coach of the Year: Matthew Webb, Houghton College
This year’s award will be going to Houghton, NY, as Houghton Head Coach Matthew Webb stepped in as interim coach prior to the spring season. It is the first E8 Coach of the Year honor for a Houghton Coach in any sports since the Highlanders joined the conference in 2012-13. Webb guided Houghton to an 11-5 overall record and a 7-1 showing in Empire 8 matches en route to earning the second seed in the E8 Tournament. The Highlanders advanced to the E8 finals for the first time in program history.
Sportmanship Team
In addition, one member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2018 Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
Empire 8 2018 Men’s Tennis All-Conference Teams
Player of the Year: Danny Polk, Stevens Institute of Technology
Rookie of the Year: Louis-Guillaume Garcia, Houghton College
Coach of the Year: Matthew Webb, Houghton College