CHARLOTTE – The Big South Conference announced the winners of its Annual Men's Tennis Awards on Thursday afternoon with six different players receiving awards. Head Coach Mike Griffith was named the Coach of the Year while Victor Putter was the Scholar Athlete of the Year.
 
"This time of the year is always nice for the guys to get rewarded for their hard work from the conference and other coaches," said Griffith. "However, all these awards are the result of all ten players and we all can celebrate that."
 
Griffith was selected as the coach of the year for the Big South for the second time in his career. The first came in 2019 which was the only other time in school history that GWU has won the conference title. He guided the team to a 15-6 mark in the regular season and 4-1 record against league opponents. The 15 wins marked the most in a single season since the team have been members of the Big South.
 
Griffith said "I'm so happy for Victor to receive such a prestigious honor. He is well rounded on and off the court and a great leader of the team."
 
Putter became the first in Gardner-Webb history to earn the title of Scholar-Athlete of the Year in Men's Tennis. He has compiled a 4.0 GPA in his four years at GWU while pursuing a degree in mathematics. Putter has shined in doubles matches this year as he and Numa Lemieux-Monette were Second-Team All-Conference in doubles as they went 3-0 against league opponents and 10-6 overall on the year spending most of their time at court #2. Putter also had six victories in singles on the season.
 
Eduardo Dias headlined the team as the only player from the Runnin' Bulldogs to be named to the all-league teams for both singles and doubles. He had a 16-4 record and 3-2 in conference opponents in singles for First-Team honors. He and Chrisjan Van Wyk were named to the First Team for doubles with their 15-4 mark and 4-1 in the conference leading the league in total wins.
 
Kim Niethammer and Alex Lepine were both selected as Second Teamers for singles this season. Niethammer led the conference in winning percentage at .905 with a 19-2 record on the year. During the year, he went on an 18-match win streak to tie the program record. He rolled through Big South opponents going 5-0, one of only five players to reach that mark. Lepine spent the season as the player at court #2 going 13-7 against all opponents. During Big South action, he was able to get a pair of victories.

2023 Big South Conference Men's Tennis Award Winners 
 
First Team All-Conference Singles
Dusan Milanovic, Presbyterian College
Eduardo Dias, Gardner-Webb
Demis Taramonlis, Radford
Damien Nezar, Campbell
Aditya Balsekar, Radford
Denim Yadav, Presbyterian College
Sam Nicholson, UNC Asheville
Max Benson, Presbyterian College
 
First Team All-Conference Doubles
Max Benson / Dusan Milanovic, Presbyterian College
Eduardo Dias / Chrisjan Van Wyk, Gardner-Webb
Damien Nezar / Benjamin Maes, Campbell
Demis Taramonlis / Dinos Raptis, Radford
 
Second Team All-Conference Singles
Benjamin Maes, Campbell
Tomas Balazi, Campbell
Javier Matos, Presbyterian College
Kim Niethammer, Gardner-Webb
Lukas Steffen, Campbell
Alex Lepine, Gardner-Webb
Sebastian Dominguez, Presbyterian College
Dinos Raptis, Radford
 
Second Team All-Conference Doubles
Javier Matos / Sebastian Dominguez, Presbyterian College
Tomas Balazi / Leon Petko, Campbell
Numa Lemieux-Monette / Victor Putter, Gardner-Webb
Jon Brann Reid / Rafa Serra, UNC Asheville
 
All-Academic Team
Noe Macquart, Campbell
Victor Putter, Gardner-Webb
Yoav Weinberg, Longwood
Dusan Milanovic, Presbyterian College
Guilherme Severin, Radford
Jon Brann Reid, UNC Asheville
 
Player of the Year
Dusan Milanovic, Presbyterian College
 
Freshman of the Year
Denim Yadav, Presbyterian College
 
Coach of the Year
Mike Griffith, Gardner-Webb
 
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Victor Putter, Gardner-Webb