Somerset, NJ -- As the winningest program in NEC men’s tennis history, FDU has produced some of the most prolific individual talents in league history.
 
This season Knights added another name to their long list of NEC Player of the Year award winners when sophomore Justas Trainauskas (Vilnius, Lithuania/Vilnius Simonas Daukantas Gymnasium) was bestowed with the conference’s top honor in voting conducted by NEC head coaches.
 
After capturing the program’s first-ever NEC Tournament title, St. Francis Brooklyn took home some well-deserved hardware as well.

Terrier freshman Leon Harder (Germany) was installed as NEC Rookie of the Year, while longtime program leader Chad Davis was chosen as the NEC Coach of the Year by his conference peers for the second time in three years.
 
Trainauskas remarkably became the 12th FDU student-athlete in the 19-year history of the award to be named NEC Player of the Year. He’s also the third player on the current FDU roster with an NEC Player of the Year bullet point on his resume, joining Mehdi Dhouib (2022) and Teodors Pukse (2021). Trainauskas was lights out all season for the Knights after collecting NEC Rookie of the Year and first team All-NEC accolades as a freshman last season. The Vilnius, Lithuania native compiled a 25-5 record on the year to rank first in the NEC in both wins and win percentage (10+ decisions). His 25 victories were eight more than any other player and he went 6-1 in league play. Working out of the #1 flight the second half of the season, Trainauskas posted an 11-3 record at the top spot, winning eight of his last nine matches. Among his non-conference victims were opponents from Cornell, St. John’s, Navy, Army, Villanova and Hofstra. Trainauskas was a two-time NEC Player of the Month, two-time NEC Player of the Week and also teamed up with Thomas Linley to nab first team All-NEC doubles honors. Along with Dhouib and Pukse, FDU’s Alex Sarria (2004), two-time winners Daniel Wynne (2005-06) and Philip Stephens (2007-08), and unprecedented four-time honoree Arvis Berzins (2012-15) have been recognized as the NEC Player of the Year.
 
Harder was a welcome addition to a stacked St. Francis Brooklyn lineup and played his best tennis when the Terriers needed him the most. Hailing from Germany, the freshman was named the NEC Rookie of the Month last October and was tabbed the NEC Rookie of the Week on April 11. Solidifying the lower half of the singles rotation, Harder won all seven of his NEC matches with his biggest victory coming in the conference final when he stopped FDU freshman star Gryffin Minor in three sets to help set the stage for SFBK’s eventual 4-2 win over the two-time defending champions. Harder, who was named to the NEC All-Tournament team, will enter NCAA play on a six-match singles win streak and is 8-5 in dual match competition on the year. He became the second SFBK student-athlete to win the award, joining Gustavo Pinho, who was honored back in 2021.
 
After 19 years at the helm of the St. Francis Brooklyn program, Davis was finally able to hoist the NEC trophy with his team earlier this month at Mercer County Park. Under his leadership, the program made a methodical climb up the conference tennis ranks, emerging as a championship contender in recent years. After a near-miss against FDU in the 2021 NEC final, the Terriers earned a long awaited rematch with the Knights in this year’s title tilt, and seized the opportunity, scraping and clawing their way to a 4-2 win and the program’s first title. The veteran head coach posted an 8-1 record against conference foes and reached the pinnacle after he built a deep roster that included three All-NEC honorees and an All-NEC doubles pairing. Davis, a 2002 graduate of SFBK who played three years for the Terriers, previously won this award in 2021.
 
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
 
Those players named to the All-NEC and All-Rookie teams are a diverse group representing 17 different countries.
 
Of the 12 All-NEC first and second team singles selections, five were underclassmen.
 
FDU led the way with four All-NEC singles picks. St. Francis Brooklyn sported three honorees, while LIU and Sacred Heart had two apiece. The Knights also became the first program since Bryant in 2019 to have all three of its doubles tandems named All-NEC. Two of SHU’s doubles pairings were tabbed to the second team.
 
FDU graduate student Mehdi Dhouib (Larchmont, NY/Iona Preparatory School) earned the rare distinction of becoming a four-time first team All-NEC pick, adding to his long list of conference honors that included NEC Player of the Year recognition in 2022 and NEC Rookie of the Year accolades back in 2019. Dhouib compiled 57 singles wins and a lights out 21-5 mark against league rivals over his five years in Teaneck. This past season, he went 4-1 within the conference, 6-2 at the #2 flight and was named to the NEC All-Tournament team for the third time. Dhouib also earned the third All-NEC doubles honor of his career for his tandem, this time teaming with Younes Adnane (Agadir, Morocco/French International School of Agadir).
 
FDU was represented by two more repeat singles honorees in senior Teodors Pukse (Riga, Latvia/Murjani Sports Gymnasium) and junior Arjun Sriram (Bangalore, India/Chrysalis). Both were voted to the second team. Pukse’s four years with FDU were highlighted by his selection as the 2021 NEC Player of the Year and as a two-time All-Tournament team pick. This past season, he finished with a 5-2 conference mark playing at various positions in the top half of the FDU lineup and won a pair of matches in the NEC Tournament. Pukse has won 39 singles matches over the course of his career for the Knights. He also picked up second team All-NEC doubles honors with Gryffin Minor (Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada). Sriram was a repeat second teamer for the Knights after holding down the #3 and #4 singles spots in the potent FDU lineup. He recorded a 10-5 mark at those two positions, went 5-1 in the NEC and finished second on the Knights with 15 overall victories. Sriram won a pair of matches at Mercer County Park on his way to earning All-Tournament status.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn graduate student Jan Godfrey Seno (Bogo City, Cebu, Philippines/University of San Carlos) was promoted to the first team after earning second team All-NEC accolades last season. Manning the #1 spot for the Terriers, he picked up arguably his biggest career victory when he outlasted FDU’s Justas Trainauskas, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, in the NEC final. Godfrey Seno, who earned a spot on the All-Tournament team, went 5-2 on the NEC circuit and is 7-3 at the #1 position heading into NCAA play. SFBK newcomers Assil Boussayri (Casablanca, Morocco/GW Academy (Alabama St.)) and Habib Stambouli (Sousse, Tunisia (UT Arlington)) were a pair of impact transfers for the Terriers who landed on the second team. Both players amassed 6-1 marks against NEC rivals. Boussayri has tallied an 8-5 record at the #2 flight, while Stambouli is 8-6 in #3 flight competition.
 
Merrimack junior Aryaan Bhatia (Mumbai, India) added a first team honor to his second team laurels from his freshman season in 2020-21. Bhatia played all 13 of his dual matches at the #1 flight, where he registered an 8-5 record that included a 3-1 mark vs. NEC competitors.
 
Sophomores Philip Hilble (Sydney, Australia/Scecgs Redlands) and Alessandro D’Anna (Palermo, Italy) were All-NEC rookies a year ago, and all-stars this season. Hilble was voted to the first team, while D’Anna nabbed second team honors for the conference semifinalists. Hilble won nine total matches at the #1 flight for the Sharks and five-of-seven NEC contests. D’Anna paced LIU and is tied for second in the NEC with 17 singles wins. He was a perfect 9-0 in #4 flight play and 5-1 in the conference. The Palermo, Italy product has now rang up 43 singles victories over his first two seasons in Brookville.
 
Sacred Heart sported a pair of singles award winners in junior Lefteri Apostolou (Barquisimeto, Venezuela/Es International School) and sophomore Matyas Vencl (Horomerice, Czech Republic/International School of Prague), who helped boost the Pioneers into the NEC semifinals. Apostolou, an All-Rookie honoree two years ago, finished the year with 15 total victories, seven of which came at the #1 position. Vencl was an All-Rookie performer last season who elevated his game in 2022-23. He paced SHU with 16 singles wins and was 5-3 in the NEC competing at the #2 flight.
 
FDU sported three of the league’s six All-Rookie selections, including Minor, who was also named second team All-NEC doubles with Pukse.
 
This marked the fifth year that All-NEC honors were awarded without flight designations.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 42nd season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Boston (#9), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 15 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.
 

2023 NEC Men's Tennis Award Winners                                                                                                                    
NEC Player of the Year
Justas Trainauskas         FDU                     So    Vilnius, Lithuania/Vilnius Simonas Daukantas Gymnasium

NEC Rookie of the Year

NEC Coach of the Year
Chad Davis                 St. Francis Brooklyn      

2023 NEC Men's Tennis First Team All-Conference  

Singles
 
Name                       School                  Yr    Hometown/High School
Lefteri Apostolou          Sacred Heart            Jr    Barquisimeto, Venezuela/Es International School
Aryaan Bhatia              Merrimack               Jr    Mumbai, India
Mehdi Dhouib               FDU                     Gr    Larchmont, NY/Iona Preparatory School
Jan Godfrey Seno           St. Francis Brooklyn    Gr    Bogo City, Cebu, Philippines/University of San Carlos
Philip Hilble              LIU                     So    Sydney, Australia/Scecgs Redlands
Justas Trainauskas         FDU                     So    Vilnius, Lithuania/Vilnius Simonas Daukantas Gymnasium

Doubles
 
Name                       School                  Yr    Hometown/High School
Thomas Linley              FDU                     So    Knaresborough, England/Repton    
Justas Trainauskas         FDU                     So    Vilnius, Lithuania/Vilnius Simonas Daukantas Gymnasium

Younes Adnane              FDU                     Jr    Agadir, Morocco/French International School of Agadir
Mehdi Dhouib               FDU                     Gr    Larchmont, NY/Iona Preparatory School

Assil Boussayri            St. Francis Brooklyn    Jr    Casablanca, Morocco/GW Academy (Alabama St.)
Habib Stambouli            St. Francis Brooklyn    So    Sousse, Tunisia (UT Arlington)
  
2023 NEC Men’s Tennis Second Team All-Conference              
 
Singles
 
Name                       School                  Yr    Hometown/High School
Assil Boussayri            St. Francis Brooklyn    Jr    Casablanca, Morocco/GW Academy (Alabama St.)
Ales D’Anna                LIU                     So    Palermo, Italy/Liceo Scientifico G. D’Alessandro
Teodors Pukse              FDU                     Sr    Riga, Latvia/Murjani Sports Gymnasium
Arjun Sriram               FDU                     Jr    Bangalore, India/Chrysalis
Habib Stambouli            St. Francis Brooklyn    So    Sousse, Tunisia (UT Arlington)
Matyas Vencl               Sacred Heart            So    Horomerice, Czech Republic/International School of Prague

Doubles
 
Name                       School                  Yr    Hometown/High School
Gryffin Minor              FDU                     Fr    Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada
Teodors Pukse              FDU                     Sr    Riga, Latvia/Murjani Sports Gymnasium

Lefteri Apostolou          Sacred Heart            Jr    Barquisimeto, Venezuela/Es International School
Alberto Mello              Sacred Heart            Gr    Sao Paolo, Brazil/Texas Rio Grande Valley

Darius Eftekhar            Sacred Heart            So    Limassol, Cyprus/The Heritage Private School
Matyas Vencl               Sacred Heart            So    Horomerice, Czech Republic/International School of Prague
 
2023 NEC Men’s Tennis All-Rookie Team