Principia Sweeps SLIAC Men's Tennis Awards
The Principia College men's tennis program swept the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual awards for the 2016-17 season. Principia's Jules Kitchingman was named the SLIAC Player of the Year while his teammate Greg Sovie picked up SLIAC Newcomer of the Year honors. Principia head coach Rusty Jones was named the SLIAC Coach of the Year.
Kitchingman, a sophomore from Mount Waverley, Australia, rolled through conference play with a perfect 4-0 record. He totaled 11 overall wins this season, playing at both the #1 and #2 spots on the Panthers team. Kitchingman added another four conference wins in doubles play and finished with 22 combined overall wins this year.
Sovie, a freshman from Maggie Valley, N.C., stepped in during his first collegiate season to help lead the Panthers to the SLIAC Tournament title. Sovie captured the winning point in the tournament last week. He recorded seven combined wins in conference play with four of them coming during singles action. Overall this year Sovie notched 20 wins while playing among the top two lineup spots and as part of the Panthers top doubles team.
Rusty Jones led the Panthers to a 10-6 overall record this past season, going undefeated in SLIAC play and leading the program to the 2017 SLIAC Tournament title. Jones becomes the fifth different Principia head coach to win conference Coach of the Year.
In addition, the SLIAC recognized a member from each program for outstanding sportsmanship during the season. Those winners are Blake Wisniewski, from Fontbonne University; Blake Gocey, from Greenville College; Nat Kenworthy, from Principia College; Carlos Gonzalez, from Webster University; and Pete Hasenmueller, from Westminster College.
For a full list of the 2016-17 SLIAC Men's Tennis All-Conference team see below:
| SLIAC | First Team | All-Conference |
| Singles | Player | School |
| #1 | Jules Kitchingman |
Principia |
| #2 | Greg Sovie |
Principia |
| #3 | Nat Kenworthy |
Principia |
| #4 | Brody Swan |
Principia |
| #5 | Dan Wagstaff |
Principia |
| #6 | Jeremiah Brannon |
Greenville |
| Doubles | Players | School |
| #1 | Greg Sovie |
Principia |
| Brody Swan |
||
| #2 | Nat Kenworthy |
Principia |
| Jules Kitchingman |
||
| #3 | Peter Griswold |
Principia |
| Dan Wagstaff |
||
| SLIAC | Honorable Mention | All-Conference |
| Singles | Player | School |
| #1 | Nate Wieland |
Greenville |
| #2 | Pete Hasenmueller |
Westminster |
| #3 | Scott Strough |
Westminster |
| #4 | Austin Burkhart |
Greenville |
| #5 | Brock Renshaw |
Greenville |
| #6 | Peter Griswold |
Principia |
| Doubles | Player | School |
| #1 | Justin Tilford |
Greenville |
| Nate Wieland |
||
| #2 | Pete Hasenmueller |
Westminster |
| Reese Hicks |
||
| #3 | Micah Harlan |
Greenville |
| Brock Renshaw |
||
| SLIAC | All-Sportsmanship Team | |
| Fontbonne | Blake Wisniewski |
|
| Greenville | Blake Gocey |
|
| Principia | Nat Kenworthy |
|
| Webster | Carlos Gonzalez |
|
| Westminster | Pete Hasenmueller |
