Moncada and Graetz Earn BIG EAST Championship Honors
4/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | MEN'S TENNIS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Junior Jose Moncada and sophomore Alasdair Graetz of the DePaul men's tennis team were named to the 2008 BIG EAST Conference All-Tournament team on Wednesday. Moncada and Graetz are two of 10 singles players recognized by league coaches for their outstanding performances at last week's BIG EAST Championship in Tampa, Florida.
Moncada and Graetz helped push No. 5 seed DePaul to a third-place finish at the tournament. Both Blue Demons were instrumental in Sunday's upset victory over No. 2 seed Louisville, who then held an ITA national ranking of No. 38. DePaul's upending of the Cardinals saw Moncada post a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over Austen Childs, the nation's 43rd ranked singles player. Graetz chipped in a three-set victory, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, over Simon Childs in the No. 4 match.
Moncada went 2-1 over the span of the tournament with his only loss coming on Saturday against 46th ranked Brett Helgeson of Notre Dame. Graetz gave DePaul a perfect 3-0 performance as he prefaced Sunday's win with victories over Marquette's Trent Hagan on Friday and Niko Boulieris of Notre Dame on Saturday.
The 2008 dual season saw Moncada go 15-7 in singles competition with an 8-2 performance in the top match. Graetz went 14-7 in spring singles play as he notched four wins in the No. 2 match, one victory in the No. 3 slot, seven wins in the No. 4 match and two wins at No. 5.
Under the guidance of first-year head coach Matt Brothers, the Blue Demons (16-10, 4-2 BIG EAST) achieved their highest finish ever at a BIG EAST Championship when they took third-place honors.
The top seed Irish won their second consecutive BIG EAST title on Sunday with a 4-1 victory over No. 2 seed USF. Notre Dame swept the tournament honors as Helgeson was named Most Outstanding Player and Bobby Bayliss was named Coach of the Year.
BIG EAST Men's Tennis Most Outstanding Player
Brett Helgeson - Notre Dame
BIG EAST Men's Tennis Coach of the Year
Bobby Bayliss - Notre Dame
All-BIG EAST Singles Team
Austen Childs, Louisville, Fr.
Alasdair Graetz, DePaul, So.
Mahmoud Hamed, USF, Sr.
Brett Helgeson, Notre Dame, Jr.
Lucas Jovita, USF, Fr.
Viktor Maksimcuk, Louisville, Fr.
Jose Moncada, DePaul, Jr.
Sheeva Parbhu, Notre Dame, Sr.
David Simon, Louisville, So.
Daniel Stahl, Notre Dame, Fr.
All-BIG EAST Doubles Team
Simon Childs/Kenneth Nordheim, Louisville
Daniel Daudt/Thomas Estrada, USF
Brett Helgeson/Sheeva Parbhu, Notre Dame
Lucas Jovita/Mahmoud Hamed, USF
Andrew Roth/Santiago Montoya, Notre Dame