DePaul University Athletics
Vito Tonejc Wins BIG EAST Player of the Year
5/6/2021 2:03:00 PM | MEN'S TENNIS
Boris Spanjaard All-BIG EAST First Team, Luuk Wassenaar on Second Team
CHICAGO – BIG EAST champion DePaul received some good news on Thursday while preparing for its NCAA Championship opener Friday at Illinois.
Vito Tonejc was honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Year as voted upon by the conference coaches and was a unanimous selection for All-BIG EAST First Team.
He is the second Blue Demon in program history to achieve such recognition. Filip Dzanko became DePaul's first BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2014.
With Aspasia Avgeri also winning BIG EAST Player of the Year in women's tennis, it is the second time in DePaul history that both programs swept the top award. Patricia Fargas joined Dzanko in 2014 as Player of the Year.
Joining Tonejc as a unanimous choice for All-BIG EAST First Team was Boris Spanjaard while their teammate and BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player Luuk Wassenaar was selected to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Coaches could not vote for their own players.
Tonejc burst onto the BIG EAST tennis scene in his first season being named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and also All-BIG EAST First Team in 2019. That was the last time the conference handed out postseason awards until Thursday with the COVID-19 pandemic cutting short the 2020 spring season.
DePaul's No. 1 singles player was a driving force all season compiling an impressive 13-5 record while facing the opposition's best.
He was at his best in a 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(7-4) road victory over Vanderbilt's nationally ranked George Harwell.
Tonejc made history on March 10 when he became the first DePaul men's tennis player to ever win the coveted Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Week award.
The junior from Zagreb, Croatia is also the first men's tennis player in the BIG EAST to receive the coveted honor.
He was also the BIG EAST Athlete of the Week on March 17, and including the postseason, notched five singles wins over conference opponents.
This was Spanjaard's second all-conference honor as he was voted onto the All-BIG EAST First Team in 2018.
The graduate student from the Netherlands was 12-7 this season playing primarily at No. 3 singles. He won his final six matches of the season and went 5-0 at the conference tournament winning all three singles matches and a pair of doubles matches.
Spanjaard teamed with Christopher Casati as the No. 1 doubles team and was 13-4 taking on the opposition's best tandem.
Wassenaar overcame tremendous odds including quadruple match point to win the third set of the deciding singles match against St. John's in DePaul's 4-3 BIG EAST title victory.
He finished the season strong winning his last five singles matches and was at his best in the clutch. The second half of DePaul's Dutch duo clinched four doubles points and five team match wins with his singles victories---including the clincher that brought his team its first BIG EAST title and NCAA Championship berth.
Matt Brothers and assistant coach Chema Carranza were honored as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the Blue Demons to their first BIG EAST title and the program's first NCAA Championship berth.
Preparing his team for the rigors of a BIG EAST Championship with three challenging matches in three days, Brothers scheduled a demanding spring break trip to Tennessee to face four teams in four days---finishing up with nationally ranked Middle Tennessee State.
In an effort to raise the competitive nature of his players, Brothers scheduled three other nationally ranked opponents in addition to Middle Tennessee.
That culminated in a 15-6 season with a 6-1 record against BIG EAST opponents including the postseason.
In his 14th year at the helm, the head coach and his "Band of Brothers" made school history.
BIG EAST Men's Tennis Player of the Year
Vito Tonejc, DePaul, Jr.
BIG EAST Men's Tennis Freshman of the Year
Stefan Dragovic, Marquette, RS-Fr.
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Matt Brothers, Chema Carranza, DePaul
All-BIG EAST First Team
Tom Brennan, Butler, Jr. ^
Stefan Dragovic, Marquette, Jr.
Ignacio Garcia, St. John's, Sr.
Vito Tonejc, DePaul, Jr. ^
Fran San Andres, Marquette, Jr.
Boris Spanjaard, DePaul, GS. ^
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Luis Heredia, Marquette, Sr.
Michael Dickson, Butler, RS-Jr.
Srdan Pejic, Xavier, Sr.
Stratton Brown, Creighton, Sr.
Louis-Nils Michel, St. John's, Sr.
Luuk Wassenaar, DePaul, Sr.
^ denotes unanimous selection
Vito Tonejc was honored as the BIG EAST Player of the Year as voted upon by the conference coaches and was a unanimous selection for All-BIG EAST First Team.
He is the second Blue Demon in program history to achieve such recognition. Filip Dzanko became DePaul's first BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2014.
With Aspasia Avgeri also winning BIG EAST Player of the Year in women's tennis, it is the second time in DePaul history that both programs swept the top award. Patricia Fargas joined Dzanko in 2014 as Player of the Year.
Joining Tonejc as a unanimous choice for All-BIG EAST First Team was Boris Spanjaard while their teammate and BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Player Luuk Wassenaar was selected to the All-BIG EAST Second Team.
Coaches could not vote for their own players.
Tonejc burst onto the BIG EAST tennis scene in his first season being named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and also All-BIG EAST First Team in 2019. That was the last time the conference handed out postseason awards until Thursday with the COVID-19 pandemic cutting short the 2020 spring season.
DePaul's No. 1 singles player was a driving force all season compiling an impressive 13-5 record while facing the opposition's best.
He was at his best in a 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(7-4) road victory over Vanderbilt's nationally ranked George Harwell.
Tonejc made history on March 10 when he became the first DePaul men's tennis player to ever win the coveted Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Week award.
The junior from Zagreb, Croatia is also the first men's tennis player in the BIG EAST to receive the coveted honor.
He was also the BIG EAST Athlete of the Week on March 17, and including the postseason, notched five singles wins over conference opponents.
This was Spanjaard's second all-conference honor as he was voted onto the All-BIG EAST First Team in 2018.
The graduate student from the Netherlands was 12-7 this season playing primarily at No. 3 singles. He won his final six matches of the season and went 5-0 at the conference tournament winning all three singles matches and a pair of doubles matches.
Spanjaard teamed with Christopher Casati as the No. 1 doubles team and was 13-4 taking on the opposition's best tandem.
Wassenaar overcame tremendous odds including quadruple match point to win the third set of the deciding singles match against St. John's in DePaul's 4-3 BIG EAST title victory.
He finished the season strong winning his last five singles matches and was at his best in the clutch. The second half of DePaul's Dutch duo clinched four doubles points and five team match wins with his singles victories---including the clincher that brought his team its first BIG EAST title and NCAA Championship berth.
Matt Brothers and assistant coach Chema Carranza were honored as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year after guiding the Blue Demons to their first BIG EAST title and the program's first NCAA Championship berth.
Preparing his team for the rigors of a BIG EAST Championship with three challenging matches in three days, Brothers scheduled a demanding spring break trip to Tennessee to face four teams in four days---finishing up with nationally ranked Middle Tennessee State.
In an effort to raise the competitive nature of his players, Brothers scheduled three other nationally ranked opponents in addition to Middle Tennessee.
That culminated in a 15-6 season with a 6-1 record against BIG EAST opponents including the postseason.
In his 14th year at the helm, the head coach and his "Band of Brothers" made school history.
BIG EAST Men's Tennis Player of the Year
Vito Tonejc, DePaul, Jr.
BIG EAST Men's Tennis Freshman of the Year
Stefan Dragovic, Marquette, RS-Fr.
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Matt Brothers, Chema Carranza, DePaul
All-BIG EAST First Team
Tom Brennan, Butler, Jr. ^
Stefan Dragovic, Marquette, Jr.
Ignacio Garcia, St. John's, Sr.
Vito Tonejc, DePaul, Jr. ^
Fran San Andres, Marquette, Jr.
Boris Spanjaard, DePaul, GS. ^
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Luis Heredia, Marquette, Sr.
Michael Dickson, Butler, RS-Jr.
Srdan Pejic, Xavier, Sr.
Stratton Brown, Creighton, Sr.
Louis-Nils Michel, St. John's, Sr.
Luuk Wassenaar, DePaul, Sr.
^ denotes unanimous selection
Players Mentioned
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