Horizon League Announces 2022 #HLTennis All-League Awards
INDIANAPOLIS – The Horizon League announced its 2022 men’s and women’s #HLTennis awards on Thursday highlighted by Youngstown State’s Laurentiu Mandocescu and UIC’s Agnes Gustafsson earning Player of the Year honors. In addition, Clement Mainguy of YSU was named men’s Freshman of the Year, while Oihane Vicario of Cleveland State and Oakland’s Liza Mladentseva were named Co-Freshman of the Year on the women’s side, as voted on by the League’s head coaches.
For the second-straight year Northern Kentucky’s Maria Koo was selected as this year’s women’s recipient of the Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award along with Youngstown State’s Erik Gran on the men’s side. The award is given in honor of former Wright State men’s and women’s tennis coach Herb Foster who passed away in 2004. Also, Ulises Hernandez of Youngstown State and Frank Polito of Cleveland State claimed the Coach of the Year awards on the men’s and women’s sides, respectively.
Mandocescu becomes the first Youngstown State student-athlete in program history to win Player of the Year. The Bucharest, Romania native went 7-1 during League play at No. 1 singles for the Penguins to help lead YSU to a perfect 8-0 mark in HL play for its first Horizon League regular season title.
Gustafsson is the sixth UIC women’s student-athlete to be named Horizon League Player of the Year, but the first since 2012. The sophomore from Paris, France finished the season with an overall record of 14-3 on top of the lineup for the Flames, including 3-1 during HL play. In doubles play, Gustafsson went 14-2 at No. 1 doubles with a perfect 4-0 mark in Horizon League action.
Mainguy joins Remi Chancerel as the only Youngstown State men’s players to earn Freshman of the Year since the award was presented starting in 2014. He went 7-1 at singles and 4-1 in doubles with partner David Moreno in HL play. Overall this season, the Port-Vila, Vanuatu native went 17-3 in singles action playing majority of the year on the No. 3 line.
Oihane is the third Cleveland State student-athlete to earn Freshman of the Year honors since 2014 after posting a 4-1 mark in Horizon League play at No. 1 singles for the Vikings. She also finished the regular season with a 14-8 record overall. Mladentseva joins Darya Maltseva as the only Oakland student-athletes to win Freshman of the Year after finishing 4-2 on top of Oakland’s lineup during HL play while also going 6-0 with partner Jillian Milano during doubles action. Overall this season, Mladentseva picked up 10 combined wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions and also went 8-1 in doubles play.
Polito claims his first women’s Coach of the Year award after leading the Vikings to their first perfect Horizon League season at 6-0 and their fourth regular season crown to claim the No. 1 seed at this week’s League championship. On the men’s side, Hernandez also takes home his first men’s Coach of the year honor after YSU earned its first-ever Horizon League regular season title and undefeated regular season with an 8-0 mark against HL opponents. It also marks the first time the Penguins will be the top seed at the HL championship.
The Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will take place at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. beginning on Friday, April 29 with quarterfinal matches and will conclude on Sunday, May 1 with the championship matches streamed on ESPN+. Fans can also follow all the action on social media by following @HorizonLeague.
For complete championship information, go to the #HLTennis Championship Central page, here.
2022 Horizon League Men’s Tennis Award Winners
Player of the Year: Laurentiu Mandocescu, Youngstown State
Freshman of the Year: Clement Mainguy, Youngstown State
Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award: Erik Gran, Youngstown State
Coach of the Year: Ulises Hernandez, Youngstown State
All-Horizon League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Mikael Erler, Cleveland State
Maxime Mareschal-Hay, Cleveland State
Alex Jochim, IUPUI
Harry Fouzas, Youngstown State
Clement Mainguy, Youngstown State
Laurentiu Mandocescu, Youngstown State
All-Horizon League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Clark Bilinovich, Cleveland State
Kade Mindry, Cleveland State
Sean Bailey, IUPUI
Kamil Kozerski, IUPUI
Brandon Ponomarew, Northern Kentucky
Pelle Strandberg, UIC
2022 Horizon League Women’s Tennis Award Winners
Player of the Year: Agnes Gustafsson, UIC
Co-Freshman of the Year: Oihane Vicario, Cleveland State and Liza Mladentseva, Oakland
Herb Foster Sportsmanship Award: Maria Koo, Northern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Frank Polito, Cleveland State
All-Horizon League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Oihane Vicario, Cleveland State
Mayya Perova, Milwaukee
Maria Koo, Northern Kentucky
Liza Mladentseva, Oakland
Agnes Gustafsson, UIC
Cecilia Rosas, Youngstown State
All-Horizon League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Sima Heren, Cleveland State
Klara Mrcela, Cleveland State
Ana Jover, UIC
Tamara Malazonia, UIC
Julia Marko, Youngstown State
Eliska Masarikova, Youngstown State