BOCA RATON, Fla. – (May 7, 2019) – After a successful 19-win season and earning the No. 1 seed in the postseason championship, five members of the Florida Atlantic University men’s tennis team received seven All-Conference USA honors on Tuesday in voting done by the league’s coaches.
Grad transfer Mehdi Laalej was voted as the C-USA Newcomer of the Year, following a season in which he led the Owls in dual-match wins, with a 19-3 record. From Feb. 9 to March 30, he did not lose a singles match, going 14-0 with one match unfinished over the course of 15 contests. He also led the team with five clinching points, and was a perfect 4-0 in C-USA matches.
Another superlative award was bestowed upon freshman Kirac Bekisoglu, chosen as Co- Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship. He went an undefeated 3-0, all in the No. 2 slot at the postseason tournament in Murfreesboro. The Bursa, Turkey native began play in the quarterfinals with a straight-set 6-4, 6-1 against UAB; earned the Owls’ clinching point to top Rice in the semis, in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-4); and then earned another straight-set win in the title match, against Middle Tennessee, 6-4, 6-4.
Jason Legall was voted C-USA All-First Team Singles after a dominant sophomore season that saw him post 14 dual match singles wins, with a 12-9 mark at No. 1. Three times, he was named C-USA Tennis Male Athlete of the Week (Jan. 30, March 13 and April 10), and he recorded four clinching points, twice when the match was knotted up at 3-3 (against FGCU and Georgia State).
Legall and partner Ignacio Garcia were automatically placed on the C-USA First Team Doubles ledger as the pair slotted No. 72 in the most recent Oracle/ITA national rankings. The sophomore duo teamed to go 17-10 at No. 1, and had a string of six straight victories together from Feb. 26 to March 29. They wrapped the year with three victories at the C-USA Championship, all coming against nationally-ranked opponents (No. 83 for UAB, No. 47 for Rice and No. 86 for Middle Tennessee). Legall and Garcia were ranked nationally themselves by Oracle/ITA from March 20 on, as high as No. 69.
In addition to his Newcomer Award, Laalej was chosen Second Team Singles, and joined there by Bekisoglu. Bekisoglu had a tremendous freshman year, with 17 overall singles wins, and 15 in dual match play. He posted 13 of his wins in the No. 2 slot and another two at No. 1, while recording three clinching singles points in dual matches, including in the Owls’ C-USA Championship semifinal win over Rice. Just like Laalej on Jan. 16, Bekisoglu was rewarded on Feb. 20 with C-USA Tennis Male Athlete of the Week honors.
Last, but not least, the pairing of Laalej and Gabriel Sidney earned Second Team Doubles honors. The senior duo began teaming together in late January, and combined for eight victories, seven in the No. 2 slot. They picked up a win at No. 1 as well, against George Washington on March 9, and notched a victory over a ranked opponent, the No. 78 team from Brown, on March 29. Then, at the C-USA championship, the pair won matches in both the quarterfinal round (6-3 over UAB) and semifinals (7-5 over Rice).
“Well-deserved recognition for each individual,” said head coach Ricardo Gonzalez. “They all had a lot of success throughout the year and contributed tremendously to our team’s success this year.”
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beabch volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
