Peach Belt Reveals Men’s Tennis Preseason All-Conference Team

AUGUSTA, GA – The Peach Belt Conference has announced the 2011 men’s tennis preseason All-Conference team.  Six players from four different schools were named to the squad, which was selected by the league’s head coaches.  Armstrong Atlantic State leads the way with three honorees while Francis Marion, Flagler and Lander have one each.

Armstrong Atlantic State’s Eudaldo Bonet is the highest-ranked singles player in the Peach Belt in the lastest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) ranking following the fall season.  A junior from Barcelona, Spain, Bonet is ranked #2 in the nation in singles play and #8 in doubles teams with Daniel Regan.  Bonet was named first-team All-Conference in 2010 with a 20-3 singles record and helped lead the team to the NCAA national quarterfinals.

AASU’s Mikk Irdoja was named the 2010 PBC Player of the Year and finished that spring season as the top-ranked singles player in all of Division II after going 21-2 in dual match play.  A senior from Tallinn, Estonia, he begins the spring 2011 season ranked fourth in singles and #1 in doubles with Rafael Array.  The doubles team captured the ITA ‘Super Bowl’ doubles title in the fall of 2010. 

Rafael Array is the final AASU member on the preseason team.  A senior from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, he won the ITA ‘Super Bowl’ doubles title last fall with Mikk Irdoja.  Named PBC All-Conference three times and and ITA All-American twice, he went 24-2 in singles play last season for the Pirates and 27-4 in doubles competition.

Lander’s Paul-Henri Arrigoni was named an ITA All-American and the southeast region Rookie of the Year in his freshman campaign last fall.  A first-team All-Conference performer, the returning sophomore from Bordeaux, France, begins this spring ranked #19 in the nation in singles play and #15 in doubles with partner Henrik Willers.  Arrigoni finished last spring with a 17-3 singles mark, 16-3 at #1 singles.

Flagler’s David Cotrone was named first-team All-Conference in the school’s first season in the league in 2010.  A senior from Bradenton, Fla., he opened last season with 15 straight wins at #1 singles and finished 17-4 overall.  He begins the spring 2011 season as the #7-ranked player in the nation.  He and doubles partner Gino Ramirez were a PBC first-team All-Conference pair in 2010 and finished sixth at the fall ITA championships.

Francis Marion’s Oshada Wijemanne was named Peach Belt All-Conference in 2009 and 2010.  A senior from Colombo, Sri Lanka, he is ranked #3 in the nation in the latest ITA singles rankings after going 11-4 in dual matches last season.  This past fall he reached the finals of the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Tournament.

The 2011 spring tennis season begins on Feb. 1 with conference play starting Feb. 10.  The regular season concludes with the 2011 PBC Tournament April 15-17 at the Newman Tennis Center in Augusta, Ga., hosted by Augusta State.  Eight PBC men’s tennis teams will begin the year ranked in the top 25 nationally.

2011 PBC Men’s Tennis
Preseason All-Conference Team

Rafael Array, Armstrong Atlantic State
Paul-Henri Arrigoni, Lander
Eudaldo Bonet, Armstrong Atlantic State
David Catrone, Flagler
Mikk Irdoja, Armstrong Atlantic State
Oshada Wijemanne, Francis Marion