2015 NAIA Men's Tennis All-America Teams Announced
By: Mike DeVader, Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the 2015 NAIA Men’s Tennis All-America teams Monday. Honorees were selected by the NAIA All-America committee, with 16 student-athletes being named to both the first and second teams.
National champion Georgia Gwinnett and national semifinalist Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) led all programs with four players from each team earning All-America honors. Jordan Cox (First Team), Kevin Konfederak (First Team), Matias Hatem (First Team) and Connor Clements (Second Team) were the Grizzlies’ All-Americans. Cox was also named the Ward-Ballinger Outstanding Player at the national championship. Vincent Dubosclard (First Team), Nicolas Pinones-Haltenhoff (First Team), Miguel Grifol (Second Team) and Othmane Lalami (Second Team) were the All-Americans for the Warhawks.
Three Vanguard (Calif.) players achieved All-America status after the Lions fell, 5-0, to eventual national runner-up Embry-Riddle (Fla.) in the semifinals. Embry-Riddle was one of four teams to have two players earn First Team All-America honors – Auburn Montgomery, Georgia Gwinnett and Vanguard.
Four additional programs – Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Northwestern Ohio, San Diego Christian (Calif.) and Xavier (La.) landed multiple players on either the first or second team.
Chase Hodges of Georgia Gwinnett was named the 2015 NAIA Men’s Tennis National Coach of the Year. His Grizzlies defeated Embry-Riddle, 5-0, on Sunday, May 17, to win their second national championship in-a-row in just Georgia Gwinnett’s second season of NAIA postseason eligibility.
2015 NAIA Men's Tennis All-America Teams
| First Team | |||
| Player | School | Year | Hometown |
| Vincent Dubosclard* | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | So. | Paris, France |
| Nicolas Pinones-Haltenhoff*^% | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | Sr. | Barcelona, Spain |
| Christian Wickenhauser* | Concordia (Calif.) | Sr. | Stuttgart, Germany |
| Deni Zmak*^ | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | Jr. | Pula, Croatia |
| Jaime Sanchez-Canamares Rios% | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | Sr. | Albacete, Spain |
| Jordan Cox | Georgia Gwinnett | So. | Sarasota, Fla. |
| Kevin Konfederak | Georgia Gwinnett | Fr. | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Matias Hatem* | Georgia Gwinnett | Jr. | San Miguel De Tucuman, Argentina |
| Edberg Espinoza* | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | So. | Margarite, Venezuela |
| Daniel Rueda*^ | Northwestern Ohio | Jr. | Bogota, Columbia |
| Brendan Aguilar | San Diego Christian (Calif.) | So. | Las Vegas, Nev. |
| David Veliz | Southeastern (Fla.) | Jr. | Chile |
| Stefan Kilchhofer*^ | Vanguard (Calif.) | Jr. | Basel, Switzerland |
| Fabio Silva | Vanguard (Calif.) | Jr. | Dracena, Brazil |
| Roger Muri*^% | Vanguard (Calif.) | Sr. | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Kyle Montrel | Xavier (La.) | Jr. | Atlanta, Ga. |
| Second Team | |||
| Player | School | Year | Hometown |
| Kristoff Saari | Aquinas (Mich.) | Jr. | Rochester, Mich. |
| Miguel Grifol | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | Sr. | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Othmane Lalami | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | Sr. | Casablanca, Morocco |
| Manuel Raga | Bethany (Kan.) | Jr. | Maracay, Venezuela |
| Vladyslav Ladygin | Campbellsville (Ky.) | Fr. | Kiev, Ukraine |
| Connor Clements | Georgia Gwinnett | So. | Charleston, S.C. |
| Jose Daniele Razo Torres | Graceland (Iowa) | Jr. | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Denis Porcic | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | Fr. | Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina |
| Rik van Gerwen | Northwestern Ohio | Jr. | Valkenseaard, Netherlands |
| Alvaro Iturriaga | Northwood (Fla.) | Sr. | Valencia, Spain |
| Daniel Aguilera | Oklahoma Baptist | So. | Madrid, Spain |
| Oscar Cornella | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | So. | Lleida, Spain |
| Leonardo Urquidi | San Diego Christian (Calif.) | So. | Santa Cruz, Bolivia |
| Carl-Philip Lindqvist | Westmont (Calif.) | Jr. | Falkenberg, Sweden |
| Ricky Keppeler | William Carey (Miss.) | Sr. | Stuttgart, Germany |
| Nikita Soifer*^ | Xavier (La.) | Sr. | Beer Sheva, Israel |
| * 2014 Men's Tennis All-American | |||
| ^ 2013 Men's Tennis All-American | |||
| % 2012 Men's Tennis All-American | |||
| Honorable Mention | |||
| Francisco Mendieta | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | ||
| Jefferson Nino | Belhaven (Miss.) | ||
| Michiel Van Den Bogaert | Bethany (Kan.) | ||
| Fabio Perasso | Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) | ||
| Carlos Becke | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | ||
| Fabian Zierleyn | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | ||
| Lachlan McPhee | Georgia Gwinnett | ||
| Daniel Sanchez | Grace (Ind.) | ||
| McKay Inman | Hastings (Neb.) | ||
| Kyle Johnson | Indiana Wesleyan | ||
| Jason Denton | Marian (Ind.) | ||
| Joan Marc Fajula-Rodriguez | McPherson (Kan.) | ||
| Thommy Johansson | Northwestern Ohio | ||
| Luis Romero | Oklahoma Baptist | ||
| Maksim Yorsh | Reinhardt (Ga.) | ||
| Gelawdiyos Haile | Southeastern (Fla.) | ||
| Ezequiel Gils | Tennessee Wesleyan | ||
| Theo Baudin | William Carey (Miss.) | ||
| Clement Fosse | William Carey (Miss.) | ||
| Tushar Mandlekar | Xavier (La.) | ||
| Birkir Gunnarsson | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | ||
