Suffolk's Marc Winkler Named GNAC Men's Tennis Player of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GNAC announces all-conference
selections and major award winners

WINTHROP, Mass. – Suffolk University senior Marc Winkler has been selected as the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, the league office announced on Tuesday morning.

Winkler went 8-0 in singles play, posting a 5-0 mark at top flight and a 3-0 record at No. 2 singles for the Rams, who fell in the conference semifinals to eventual GNAC runner-up Norwich University.

Winkler also earned All-GNAC Second Team Doubles recognition with junior teammate Calixto Romero, as the pair went 8-0 overall, all at No. 1 doubles for Suffolk.

Romero also earned First Team Singles honors as he went 7-1 overall, including 5-0 at No. 2 Singles.

The Ramapo College freshman duo of Michael Abelev and Willen Feygin, both from Fair Lawn, N.J., received First Team Doubles All-Conference honors after posting a 12-2 record together, including 6-0 at No. 1 Singles and 6-2 at No. 2 singles.

Abelev was also selected as the GNAC Rookie of the Year. The freshman went 13-3 overall in singles action, including 3-1 at No. 1 and a perfect 8-0 at No. 3.

Ramapo senior Jacob Khodakov earned First Team Singles recognition, as he went 8-8 overall in singles matches and manned top flight for Ramapo most of the 2014-15 season.

Ramapo head coach Raza Baig was named the GNAC Coach of the Year after guiding the program to their third straight GNAC Championship, a 15-2 overall record and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Norwich, which hosted Ramapo in the GNAC title match this past weekend, saw a pair of rookies named to the First Team in Jeff Purdy and Marc-Oliver Tourigny. Purdy went 9-1 overall, including 6-1 at No. 6 singles, while Tourigny went 6-4 overall, all at No. 2 Singles for the Cadets.

Rutgers University-Newark junior Derence Tejero rounded out the All-GNAC First Team Singles selections, as he went 7-5 overall, including 2-0 in GNAC play, at No. 2, 3 and 4 Singles for the Scarlet Raiders.

To view the complete All-Conference breakdown and the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team, please see below.

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement.

First Team Singles
Jeff Purdy, Norwich (Fr., Grantham, N.H.)
Marc-Olivier Tourigny, Norwich (Fr., Drummondville, Quebec)
Jacob Khodakov, Ramapo (Sr., Old Bridge, N.J.)
Derence Tejero, Rutgers-Newark (Jr., Bergenfield, N.J.)
Marc Winkler, Suffolk (Sr., Caracas, Venezuela)
Calixto Romero, Suffolk (Jr., Lima, Peru)

First Team Doubles
Michael Abelev (Fr., Fair Lawn, N.J.) / Willen Feygin (Fr., Fair Lawn, N.J.), Ramapo

Second Team Singles
Pete Zacharias, Albertus Magnus (Sr., North Haven, Conn.)
Nick Auffret, Johnson & Wales (So., Holtsville, N.Y.)
Andre Barbero, Johnson & Wales (So., Brielle, N.J.)
Jason Chavenson, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Upper Dublin, Pa.)
Nadeem Hilal, Rutgers-Newark (Fr., Newark, N.J.)
Alonso Vela, Suffolk (Fr., Calexico, Calif.)

Second Team Doubles
Calixto Romero/Marc Winkler, Suffolk

Player of the Year – Marc Winkler, Suffolk
Rookie of the Year – Michael Abelev, Ramapo
Coach of the Year – Raza Baig, Ramapo
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Rutgers University-Newark

All-Sportsmanship Team
Elvis Santana, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Bronx, N.Y.)
Jason Chavenson, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Upper Dublin, Pa.)
Ryan Grindle, Norwich (Sr., Essex, Vt.)
Mike Friedman, Ramapo (So., Wyckoff, N.J.)
Geoffrey Bondad, Rutgers-Camden (So., Cherry Hill, N.J.)
Derence Tejero, Rutgers-Newark (Jr., Bergenfield, N.J.)
Calixto Romero, Suffolk (Jr., Lima, Peru)

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