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Somerset, NJ -- Fairleigh Dickinson freshman Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Centre Language School) came away the big winner in NEC postseason award balloting, becoming the second competitor in conference history to be tabbed NEC Men’s Tennis Player and Rookie of the Year. FDU’s Ira Miller, who guided the Knights to a record 11th NEC Championship last month, was tabbed NEC Coach of the Year by his peers for the sixth time in his career.
Berzins was spectacular in his freshman season, posting a 15-4 record in #1 flight play and 18 wins on the year. He posted a 7-0 mark against conference competitors, including three straight set wins in the NEC Tournament. With the NCAA Tournament on the horizon, Berzins has peaked at the right time with 12 wins in his last 15 matches He won five straight NEC Rookie of the Week awards to close out the spring season, the longest such streak in league history, and was also tabbed NEC Player of the Week on April 17. The Latvian native became FDU’s fifth NEC Player of the Year and fourth NEC Rookie of the Year since the awards program was started in 2004. Former Knight Philip Stephens (2007) is the only other NEC competitor to earn dual honors at year’s end. Berzins was also selected to the All-NEC doubles second team.
Now in his third stint and 15th season as the helm of the FDU program, Miller continues to recruit and develop high caliber talent for the Knights. Returning a veteran team, Miller added the final to the puzzle with the insertion of Berzins into the #1 spot in the lineup. After successfully navigating through a challenging non-conference slate in the early portion of the spring season, the Knights rolled through NEC regular season play with a 4-0 mark, then did not drop a single match in the NEC Tournament. In doing so, FDU won its record 11th NEC crown, including the seventh under the leadership of Miller and first since 2008. The Knights (15-8) now head into their NCAA Tournament match at #3 Virginia winners of 11 of their last 12 dating back to mid-March. Miller is a six-time NEC Coach of the Year, which is double the number of any other coach in league annals.
Joining Berzins on the All-NEC singles first team were junior teammates Ibrahim Shams (Cairo, Egypt/Manor House) at the #2 flight, Yuri Gricheno (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim) at #3 and Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho) at the #5 spot. Rounding out the first team were Mount St. Mary’s junior Mike Salomon (Haymarket, VA/Seton School) at #4 singles and Bryant freshman Richard Sipala (Quogue, NY/The Ross School) in the #6 position.
Shams, a junior, picked up his first singles honor after posting a 17-12 mark in 2011-12, including a perfect 6-0 NEC record. Shams, who was 14-4 versus #2 flight competition, won a pair of matches in the NEC Tournament, highlighted by a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Monmouth in the title match. He enters NCAA play red-hot, having won seven of his last eight matches.
Of the six All-NEC first team members, Gricheno was the lone repeat honoree. The junior was voted a #4 flight all-star in 2010-11, then continued his strong play at #3 singles this past season. Gricheno won 15 matches on the year and was 3-1 against conference opponents. While he did not complete at match in the NEC Tournament, he was up a set in all three contests. Gricheno was honored as the September NEC Player of the Month.
Skvarka clinched his spot on the All-NEC first team with a productive April, winning all six of his matches in straight sets. He posted a pair of NEC Tournament victories and wrapped his year 5-1 over the course of FDU’s league slate. Overall, Skvarka has racked up 15 wins against 12 defeats and is 9-5 in #5 flight play.
Salomon was the first player at the Mount to collect first team All-NEC honors since Derek Taylor in 2006. And what a year it was for the junior, who led the NEC by a wide margin in both wins (28) and win percentage (.848). He went unbeaten against NEC rivals (5-0), finished 14-3 at the #4 spot and helped lead the Mountaineers to their first NEC semifinal appearance since 2006. Salomon has now won 59 matches in his three years in Emmitsburg.
Sipala joined FDU’s Berzins as the two freshman performers to earn first team accolades. The Quogue, NY native capably manned the #6 spot for the Bulldogs, finishing with an 18-7 overall mark, 9-4 record in his flight and 4-0 ledger versus NEC foes. Sipala’s season took off in February when he ran off 10 straight dual match victories and was named NEC Player of the Month.
FDU also earned two of the three spots on the All-NEC doubles first team, but it was the Bryant freshman combination of Ernesto Arguello (Managua, Nicaragua/American Nicaraguan School) and Juan Gonzalez-Paz (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola) who were recognized at the #1 spot. FDU’s Dominic Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) and Marco Jemersic (Zagreb, Croatia/X Gimnasija Ivan Supek) were the #2 pairing, while the Knights’ tandem of Mark Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) and Peter Skvarka (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho) manned the #3 spot.
Bryant head coach Ron Gendron could not have asked for any more from his youthful tandem of Arguello and Gonzalez-Paz. The duo went unbeaten within the NEC (4-0), including a nailbiting 8-7 win over FDU’s outstanding team of Arvis Berzins and Ibrahim Shams in early April. On the year, Arguello and Gonzalez-Paz posted a 15-13 mark and were 7-5 in #1 flight dual match play.
While freshman ruled in #1 doubles, it was the veteran team of Dominic Hemy and Jemersic that sealed up honors at the #2 position. The senior duo didn’t begin teaming until the spring, but won three of their four league matches highlighted by an 8-4 win over the accomplished Mount St. Mary’s team of Adam Salam and Mike Salomon in the NEC semifinals. Jemersic, a doubles specialist, previously earned All-NEC recognition as a freshman in 2009 along with Alex Jorne.
The second half of the FDU brother combo took home #3 doubles honors as Mark Hemy paired up with Skvarka in a formidable combination. The two juniors could not be touched in the league, and capped off a perfect 7-0 record against conference opponents by winning all three of their NEC Tournament matches. On the year, Hemy and Skvarka are 13-9, all at the #3 flight.
Four different schools were represented on the All-NEC second team singles lineup, but three of those spots went to Bryant players. The Bulldogs, who become eligible for NEC Tournament play next season, were represented by sophomore Dana Parziale (Pinehurst, NC/Pinecrest) at #2, along with freshmen Ernesto Arguello (Managua, Nicaragua/American Nicaraguan School) (#4) and Juan Gonzalez-Paz (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola) (#5). For Parziale, it marks his second straight second team honor after being tabbed at the #3 position as a freshman. The 2010-11 NEC Rookie of the Year, Parziale ranked second on the circuit with 20 victories and was tabbed the October NEC Player of the Month. He went 6-3 at #2 singles and was 3-1 against NEC competition. Two of 11 underclassmen in the Bryant lineup, Arguello and Gonzalez-Paz both finished 3-1 in the conference. Arguello concluded his freshman year 14-13, while Gonzalez-Paz was 16-9.
The future is certainly bright for the NEC as yet another freshman - Monmouth’s Freddy Marcinkowski (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) - landed a spot on the second team. Marcinkowski had a busy league season, winning six-of-nine matches, and finished 16-9 overall competing entirely at the #1 flight for head coach Mickey Cook. He helped lead the Hawks to the NEC title match, and won two of his three postseason matches. The Sparta, NJ native was also named the NEC Player and Rookie of the Week on March 13.
Robert Morris junior Andre Coiro (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) came on strong down the stretch for head coach Jeff Layman, winning his last eight matches to earn all-star status at the #3 spot. He finished a perfect 6-0 against NEC rivals and was 4-1 in #3 flight play for the year. Coiro is the first RMU player since Mario Woldt in 2000 to claim a spot on an All-NEC singles team.
FDU’s Dominic Hemy (Suffolk, England/Ipswich School) closed out the list of second team honorees. Hemy jumps into NCAA play with a 9-2 mark at the #6 flight, including 10 wins in his last 11 matches. He lost just once in seven NEC matches and easily won all three of his NEC Tournament contests.
In addition to their first team singles honors, FDU’s Arvis Berzins (Adazi, Latvia/Riga Centre Language School) and Ibrahim Shams (Cairo, Egypt/Manor House) also claimed the #1 spot on the All-NEC doubles second team. They were joined by a pair of Monmouth duos that featured a nice blend of youth and experience. Freshman Francis Jedlinski (Manalapan, NJ/Freehold Township) and senior Laurence Heads (Stockton-on-Tees, England/Repton School) were slotted in at the #2 flight, while senior David Sherwood (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands) teamed up with freshman Tom Kowalski (Westfield, NJ/Westfield) at #3 doubles.
Berzins and Shams were dominant throughout much of the year for the Knights. The team dropped just one league match (4-1), finished an impressive 14-3 in #1 flight play and were 16-7 overall in 2011-12. Jedlinski and Heads posted a 5-4 record in #2 flight play for the Hawks, and won two-of-three NEC matches. Sherwood and Kowalski finished 6-3 at #3 doubles, splitting four league bouts.
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 31st year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 12 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 23 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic or play-in access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Central Connecticut State, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Monmouth, Mount St. Mary’s, Quinnipiac, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (NY), Saint Francis (PA) and Wagner. Bryant will become the NEC’s 12th member upon completion of the NCAA Division I reclassification process in 2012. For more information on the NEC, visit www.northeastconference.org.
2012 NEC Men’s Tennis Award Winners
Player of the Year
Arvis Berzins FDU Fr Adazi, Latvia/Riga Centre Language School
Rookie of the Year
Arvis Berzins FDU Fr Adazi, Latvia/Riga Centre Language School
Coach of the Year
Ira Miller FDU
2012 NEC Men’s Tennis First Team All-Conference
Singles
Flight Name School Yr Hometown/High School
#1 Arvis Berzins FDU Fr Adazi, Latvia/Riga Centre Language School
#2 Ibrahim Shams FDU Jr Cairo, Egypt/Manor House
#3 Yuri Gricheno FDU Jr Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Amorim
#4 Mike Salomon Mount St. Mary’s Jr Haymarket, VA/Seton School
#5 Peter Skvarka FDU Jr Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho
#6 Richard Sipala Bryant Fr Quogue, NY/The Ross School
Doubles
Flight Name School Yr Hometown/High School
#1 Ernesto Arguello Bryant Fr Managua, Nicaragua/American Nicaraguan School
Juan Gonzalez-Paz Bryant Fr San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola
#2 Dominic Hemy FDU Sr Suffolk, England/Ipswich School
Marco Jemersic FDU Sr Zagreb, Croatia/X Gimnasija Ivan Supek
#3 Mark Hemy FDU Jr Suffolk, England/Ipswich School
Peter Skvarka FDU Jr Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Gymnazium J.G. Tajovskeho
2012 NEC Men’s Tennis Second Team All-Conference
Singles
Flight Name School Yr Hometown/High School
#1 Freddy Marcinkowski Monmouth Fr Sparta, NJ/Sparta
#2 Dana Parziale Bryant So Pinehurst, NC/Pinecrest
#3 Andre Coiro Robert Morris Jr Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
#4 Ernesto Arguello Bryant Fr Managua, Nicaragua/American Nicaraguan School
#5 Juan Gonzalez-Paz Bryant Fr San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola
#6 Dominic Hemy FDU Sr Suffolk, England/Ipswich School
Doubles
Flight Name School Yr Hometown/High School
#1 Arvis Berzins FDU Fr Adazi, Latvia/Riga Centre Language School
Ibrahim Shams FDU Jr Cairo, Egypt/Manor House
#2 Laurence Heads Monmouth Sr Stockton-on-Tees, England/Repton School
Francis Jedlinski Monmouth Fr Manalapan, NJ/Freehold Township
#3 Tom Kowalski Monmouth Fr Westfield, NJ/Westfield
David Sherwood Monmouth Sr Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands