SoCon men's tennis postseason awards announced

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer’s Nemanja Stefanovic has been named the Southern Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, as the league announced its 2025 awards Wednesday. Samford’s Hayden Menon has been named the SoCon Freshman of the Year, while Mercer coach Eric Hayes earned his second career SoCon Coach of the Year honor. Wofford’s Robbie Young was named the winner of the Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award.
 
Postseason balloting was conducted by the league’s eight head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
 
Stefanovic becomes the second SoCon Player of the Year for Mercer. The junior from Oakville, Ontario, enters postseason play with a 13-6 singles mark at No. 1, including a 6-1 SoCon record at the top flight. In doubles play, he owns a perfect 7-0 mark at the No. 1 spot in league action, while playing with teammate Marceau Fouilhoux. Stefanovic earned SoCon Player of the Week honors on January 14, the first of his career. Stefanovic earned first-team All-SoCon honors in singles and second-team honors with Fouilhoux in doubles.
 
Menon is Samford’s first SoCon Freshman of the Year selection. The rookie from Tampa, Florida, is 14-6 overall in singles play this season, including a 6-1 SoCon record at the No. 3 position. In doubles play, Menon is 8-4 overall including a 4-3 league mark.
 
Hayes earned his second SoCon Men’s Coach of the Year accolade since 2018 after leading the Bears to a 11-7 overall record and a 6-1 SoCon mark that claimed a share of the regular season title. In addition to Stafanovic, Mercer saw Hod’Abalo Isak Padio earn first-team honors in singles and doubles with teammate Amen Prince Gondounou.

Young won the Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship award for the second time in his career. The senior from Greenville, South Carolina, posted a 3-4 mark at No. 1 singles in league matches for the Terriers this season, earning first-team all-conference honors. He went 6-1 in doubles action at the No. 1 position with Jack Deveney, earning first-team All-SoCon honors for doubles.
 
ETSU’s Peter Kalocsai, Samford’s Sandeep Mohandoss, and Chattanooga’s Jakub Jupa rounded out the singles All-SoCon first team, while Samford’s Darcy Nicholls and J.B. Pickard earned the other first-team doubles spots.

The ETSU duo of Pedro Cressoni and Martin Garcia-Ripoll were named as second-team All-SoCon singles selections along with UNCG’s Timofy Khrystyuk, Samford’s Nicholls, Chattanooga’s Gabriel Castillo, and Wofford’s Deveney.

Chattanooga’s doubles tandem of Jakub Jupa and Castillo along with ETSU pair Martin Garcia-Ripoll and Peter Kalocsai rounded out the second-team all-conference doubles selections.
 
Menon was joined on the all-freshman team by ETSU’s Carlos Gonzales and Juan Andres Listo, Paladin rookie Theophile Joly, Matej Laibl, who represents the Mocs, and Jack Burdell from Wofford.

The SoCon Men’s Tennis Championship begins Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with all eight league teams vying for the title.

 
2025 Southern Conference Player of the Year
Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer
 
2025 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year
Hayden Menon, Samford
 
2025 Southern Conference Coach of the Year
Eric Hayes, Mercer
 
2025 Southern Conference Don Bunch/Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Robbie Young, Wofford

2025 All-Southern Conference Men’s Tennis
First team
Singles
Peter Kalocsai, ETSU
Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer

Hod’Abalo Isak Padio, Mercer

Sandeep Mohandoss, Samford
Jakub Jupa, Chattanooga

Robbie Young, Wofford

Doubles
Hod’Abalo Isak Padio/Amen Prince Gondounou, Mercer
Darcy Nicholls/J.B. Pickard, Samford
Jack Deveney/Robbie Young, Wofford
 
Second team
Singles
Pedro Cressoni, ETSU
Martin Garcia-Ripoll, ETSU

Timofy Khrystyuk, UNC Greensboro
Darcy Nicholls, Samford
Gabriel Castillo, Chattanooga
Jack Deveney, Wofford

Doubles
Martin Garcia-Ripoll/Peter Kalocsai, ETSU

Marceau Fouilhoux/Nemanja Stafanovic, Mercer
Jakub Jupa/Gabriel Castillo, Chattanooga
 
All-Freshman Team
Carlos Gonzales, ETSU

Juan Andres Listo, ETSU

Theophile Joly, Furman
Hayden Menon, Samford
Matej Laibl, Chattanooga
Jack Burdell, Wofford