April 23, 2009

On Saturday when the University of Texas Pan American men's tennis team competes in the Southland Conference Tournament they will have two more boosts of confidence. The first is Aswin Vijayaragavan was named the 2009 Southland Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year by vote of the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

"It feels great being named Player of the Year," said Vijayaragavan. "Last year I feel short and this year I was lucky enough to be selected. I am much stronger this year thanks to Coach Gathron (UTPA's strength & conditioning coach)."

Luck had nothing to do with it. Vijayaragavan finished the season with a 5-1-conference record in the No.1 position and only lost two sets all season. Last year he was named to the 2nd team All-Conference and this year Vijayaragavan was to the named first-team all-conference at No. 1 singles in addition be being named Player of the Year.

The second boost of confidence comes in the No.5 position where newcomer Beau Bernstein was named to the first-team as well. Bernstein compiled an eight and three record this season.

Beau Berstein

"I really appreciate the award. It goes shows that I have made an impact on the teams and the other coaches in the conference have noticed," said Bernstein. "We have worked really hard all year, and just being around my teammates have made me a better player."

The announcement came Thursday one day before the start of the SLC Tournament where the Broncs will have the No. 2 seed and a first round bye. The No. 1 seed belongs to Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The action for the Broncs starts Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the H.E.B. Tennis Center in Corpus Christi.

UTPA Sports Information