Austin Peay Sports Information
Nashville, TN – Two Austin Peay State University tennis players have earned All-Ohio Valley Conference first team honors while the Govs’ coach is sharing the league’s Men’s Coach of the Year honor.
Meanwhile, head coach Ross Brown has been named co-OVC Men’s Coach of the Year. Those announcements came Thursday night at the postseason awards banquet.
Ristovski and Tverijonas each found their way onto one of the two all-conference teams for a fourth consecutive season and are the third and fourth Govs in as many years to earn All-OVC honors each of their four seasons in red, joining Sean Bailey and Jasmin Ademovic.
“Getting to coach Dimitar and Aleksas has been delightful,” said head coach Ross Brown. “We have had an extremely enjoyable season and these two are a large part of that.”
Ristovski, a native of Skopje, Macedonia, posted a 14-8 mark at No. 1 singles, including a 5-4 record in conference play in 2015. At No. 1 doubles he partnered with fellow senior Iago Seffrin to compile an impressive 5-1 record in OVC play. In head-to-head singles action, he defeated three players who earned All-OVC honors this season. Over his four-year career, Ristovski has compiled a 64-29 career record, with a 26-8 mark in OVC play.
“Dimitar has had a really excellent season,” Brown said. “He has battled through some injuries this season and yet he still played. He’s a true leader and a great competitor.”
Tverijonas posted a 15-10 record overall at No. 2 singles, including a 7-1 OVC record. The Lithuanian-bred Tverijonas partnered with sophomore Aaron Jumonville in doubles to compile a 4-1 OVC record at the No. 2 slot. Tverijonas is 72-26 in singles during his four years, including a 30-3 mark in OVC play. He closed out his spring campaign by winning 11 of his last 12 singles matches.
“When it comes to Aleksas, his record says it all,” Brown said. “He is one of the mentally toughest guys I’ve seen in all my years of coaching.”
“It’s a very nice honor to receive and one that doesn’t come easily,” Brown said. “A coach only gets recognition like this because of the people around them, and it reflects well on all of them.”
The conference announced their honors at the annual awards banquet prior to the start of the OVC Tennis Championship. Tennessee Tech’s Alex Arovin was named OVC Player of the Year, with teammate Eduardo Mena earning Freshman of the Year honors. Tennessee Tech’s Kenny Doyle was named Co-Coach of the Year with Brown.
Austin Peay opens up the 2015 OVC Tournament with a 2:00pm Friday match pitting the third-seeded Govs against No. 6 Morehead State at Centennial SportsPlex in Nashville, TN.
