University of Tennessee Athletics
Winterbotham named SEC Coach of the Year
April 17, 2008 | Men's Tennis
Tennessee head coach Sam Winterbotham was named Coach of the Year and J.P. Smith was named Freshman of the Year as the 2008 Southeastern Conference men's tennis teams and honors were announced by the league office Wednesday night. The All-SEC teams were voted on by the league's 12 head coaches.
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Winterbotham has led Tennessee to a 20-2 record and a 9-2 mark in SEC play in his second year in charge of the Big Orange. The 20 wins in the regular season is the most heading into postseason play since the 1993 squad had 25. The UT head coach accomplished this despite having a team heavy in freshmen and sophomores. In two years at UT, Winterbotham has a 37-10 (.787) record. He is the first Tennessee coach to win Coach of the Year honors since Michael Fancutt in 1998.
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Smith has named SEC Freshman of the Year after putting together a 14-4 singles record including a 7-3 mark in SEC play during the dual-match season. The freshman from Australia is currently ranked 33rd in singles and has been ranked as high as16th. Smith has an overall singles record of 24-9 with 11 of those victories coming over ranked opponents.
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The UT freshman was also named to the conference's first team and was on the five-member SEC All-Freshman team.
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Boris Conkic and Kaden Hensel were both named to the second team.
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Conkic put together a 25-6 singles record in his freshman season. He clinched three Tennessee victories and has five wins over ranked opponents. Conkic has been ranked as high as 28th this year in singles and is currently ranked 89th. Conkic has also on the All-Freshman team.
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Hensel clinched four of UT???s victories including its wins over third-ranked Georgia. He was named SEC player of the week twice this season. In doubles, he and Smith are 17-3 at the No. 1 position in the lineup and have a 6-1 record over ranked opponents. The 2007 All-America selection is currently ranked 41st.
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Matteo Fago's undefeated, 11-0, record in conference play was not enough to get him on the first or second team but the Ceprano, Italy, native was named to the All-Freshman team. Fago is currently on a 13-match win streak. In SEC play, Fago has only dropped two sets and has won in straight-sets in nine of 11 matches. He clinched three of UT???s wins this season.
Overall, Tennessee had three of the five selections on the All-Freshman team. Jeremy Tweedt was not selected for the All-Freshmen team despite having a 9-2 record in SEC play this season.
The Vols begin play in the SEC Tournament on Friday in Fayetteville, Ark. UT plays sixth-seed LSU at 9:30 a.m. ET. Live scoring for the match can be found at hogwired.com or UTsports.com.
2008 All-SEC
Coach of the Year: Sam Winterbotham, Tennessee
Player of the Year: Greg Ouellette, Florida
Freshman of the Year:?? J.P. Smith, Tennessee
First Team
Alexey Tsyrenov, Auburn
Greg Ouellette, Florida
Travis Helgeson, Georgia
Nate Schnugg, Georgia
Bruno Agostinelli, Kentucky
Michael Venus, LSU
Erling Tveit, Ole Miss
Jonas Berg, Ole Miss
Matthias Wllerman, Ole Miss
Ivan Bjelica, Mississippi State
J.P. Smith, Tennessee
Ryan Preston, Vanderbilt
Second Team
Mat Thibaudeau, Alabama
Tim Puetz, Auburn
Alex Lacroix, Florida
Luis Flores, Georgia
Jamie Hunt, Georgia
Javier Garrapiz, Georgia
Kevin Dessauer, LSU
Robbye Poole, Ole Miss
Kalle Norberg, Ole Miss
Phillippe Frayssinoux, Miss. State
Boris Conkic, Tennessee
Kaden Hensel, Tennessee
All-Freshman Team
Tim Puetz, Auburn
Javier Garrapiz, Georgia
Boris Conkic, Tennessee
Matteo Fago, Tennessee
J.P. Smith, Tennessee
