GWU Freshmen Slesarev and Van Rensburg Receive A-Sun Honors
April 19, 2007 | Men's Tennis
MACON, GA – Gardner-Webb freshmen Evgeny Slesarev and Grant Van Rensburg received All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors this week, as Slesarev was named to the First Team All-Atlantic Sun and the All-Freshmen Team, while Van Rensburg earned a spot on the All-Freshmen Team as well.
In his first year at Gardner-Webb the Krasnoyarsk, Russia native played all season for the Bulldogs at the No. 1 or No. 2 singles position.
Slesarev finished regular season play in fifth-place overall in the A-Sun conference at the No. 1 singles position with a .643 winning percentage. Slesarev went 12-9 on the season in singles play including going 9-6 at the No. 1 spot.
Slesarev was named the A-Sun Player of the Week on March 20, in which he went a combined 5-1 in singles and doubles action. It was the first time in GWU men's tennis history that a player was given the prestigous weekly honor.
Midway through the season, Slesarev put together a stretch in which he won six straight matches at the No. 1 singles spot.
Fellow freshman Grant Van Rensburg put together a great inaugural season at GWU, as he finished the regular season with a singles record of 11-9 overall including going 10-4 at the No. 5 singles position. The freshman from Manalapan, N.J. was nineth in the A-Sun overall at the No. 5 singles position with a .714 winning percentage.
Like fellow classmate Slesarev, Van Rensburg put together his own impressive winning streak midway through the spring season, as he collected eight consecutive wins at the No. 5 singles spot.
Van Rensburg teamed up with senior Roberto Vasques to post a team high 11 wins in doubles play on the year.
The Gardner-Webb men's tennis team finished the regular season with a record of 10-12 and 4-4 in A-Sun play. The 10 wins are the most that the Bulldogs have had since going Division I in 2002.
The Bulldogs earned a No. 4 seed in the 2007 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship tournament and will play the No. 5 seeded Jacksonville Dolphins this Friday, April 20, at 3 p.m. at East Tennessee University in Johnson City, Tenn.
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