Sparkill, N.Y. - On Wednesday, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced its 2024 ITA Division II Men's and Women's Tennis Regional Award recipients. Every year the ITA recognizes coaches and players for their excellence on the court and in their communities throughout the season.
The Division II Playing Awards include: Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year, ITA Assistant Coach of the Year, Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship, ITA Rookie of the Year, ITA Most Improved Senior, ITA Senior Player of the Year, ITA Player to Watch and ITA Community Service Award.
Head Coach Dan Rockhill was named the East Region Women's Tennis Coach of the Year, while Men's Tennis athlete Seth Newman was tabbed as the East Region Rookie of the Year and Viktoriia Pavlovets was selected as the East Region Most Improved Player.
In his second season at the helm of the Spartans, Rockhill led the maroon and gold to a 16-6 overall record and a 4-1 mark in conference play. STAC won its second straight East Coast Conference Championship last October, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Tournament. In regional play, the Spartans defeated Wilmington University (4-3) to advance to Florida and the NCAA D2 Round of 16, which gets underway Monday, May 20 in Altamonte Springs.
Newman (Cambridge, England) earned ECC Rookie of the Year honors after going 5-1 in both ECC singles and doubles play in his first collegiate season. The three-time ECC Rookie of the Week went a perfect 2-0 at the No. 2 position in both singles and doubles and went 3-1 from the No. 4 spot in singles and No. 3 spot in doubles. Overall, Newman went 15-5 in singles play, primarily playing at No. 4 (7-4) and No. 2 (4-0) and dominated in doubles, going 21-5 with a 12-4 showing from the No. 3 position. With fellow freshman Henry Ronnberg, Newman won the ITA Men’s East Regional Doubles Championship in what was nothing short of an impressive rookie campaign.
Pavlovets has been a major contributor to the success of STAC during both the regular season and the teams current postseason run. In 2023-24, Pavlovets has totaled 18 wins in both doubles (10-7) and singles (8-12) play to date. During the fall season, Viktoriia played primarily in the No. 3 doubles spot with teammate Giovanna Jallas and the No. 2 singles position. However, Head Coach Dan Rockhill elevated the graduate student from St. Petersburg, Russia to the top spots in both singles and doubles during the spring campaign, pairing her with fellow Spartan Kateryna Kryuchkova.
The national award winners will be announced next Tuesday, May 21.