Panthers Sweep Awards For 2nd Straight Year

For the second year in a row, the Principia College program swept the men's tennis major individual awards for the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. After going through the regular season and conference tournament undefeated the Panthers were honored by league coaches and awarded the Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Coach of the Year awards for the 2018 season.

Headed up the list of award winners is Principia freshman Wyatt Dale. Dale took home both the Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards; becoming the first conference play to accomplish that feat since 2010 when Westminster's Tony Stephenson won both awards. Dale, from St. Louis, Mo., rolled through the season with a perfect 4-0 record against conference foes. He finished the year at 12-5 overall in singles play and added another 14 wins in doubles. 

The Coach of the Year goes to Rusty Jones. Jones, in his third season as head coach of the Panthers, takes home his second straight SLIAC Coach of the Year award. He guided the Panthers to the SLIAC Tournament title, their fifth straight title. 

The league also voted on a Team Sportsmanship award, with Principia College taking home the plaque for the fourth time in program history.

The conference also recognizes a player from each conference team for outstanding sportsmanship throughout the season. These players are nominated by their coaches and this year's SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team includes from Fontbonne University, Jacob Lendy; from Greenville University, Zach Plocher; from Principia College, Wyatt Dale; from Webster University, Courtland Butler; and from Westminster College, Pete Hasenmueller.