April 27, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis players Ryan Lipman and Adam Baker were selected to the 2011 All-SEC Teams, as announced by the conference Wednesday afternoon. Lipman was named to the All-SEC First Team for the second consecutive year, while Baker was named to the Second Team.
Lipman, who is currently ranked 29th in the nation, posted a 15-7 record this spring while playing every match at the No. 1 singles spot. In doubles, Lipman posted a 16-8 record in dual matches, going 10-7 with Baker, and 5-1 with Bryant Salcedo at the end of the season. Lipman and Baker defeated the sixth-ranked doubles pair in the nation in Javier Garrapiz and Hernus Pieters of Georgia.
Lipman defeated four ranked players this spring, including two other SEC first-team members (Rhyne Williams and Wil Spencer).
In his final season at Vanderbilt, Baker posted a 16-16 record, including an 11-12 mark in dual matches, mostly playing at the No. 2 position. In SEC matches, Baker went 5-6 in singles. He ended the regular season by winning five of his last seven matches, including those over No. 111 Jarryd Botha and No. 82 Neal Skupski.
In doubles, Baker combined for a 14-9 record this spring, including a 3-1 mark with teammate Charlie Jones. Baker and Jones defeated the ninth-ranked duo in the nation in the SEC Tournament just last week.
The Commodores, ranked 32nd in the nation, are awaiting their NCAA Tournament draw, which will be announced on May 3 at 4:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
Mississippi State’s Per Nilsson was named SEC Coach of the Year, while Tennessee’s John-Patrick Smith was tabbed as the conference Player of the Year. Freshman of the Year honors went to Malte Stropp, of Mississippi State, and Auburn’s Tim Puetz was named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Due a tie for the final spot, the second team has 13 players instead of the usual 12.
Coach of the Year: Per Nilsson, Mississippi State
Player of the Year: John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee
Freshman of the Year: Malte Stropp, Mississippi State
Scholar Ahtlete of the Year: Tim Puetz, Auburn
All-SEC First Team
Tim Puetz, Auburn
Alexandre Lacroix, Florida
Sekou Bangoura Jr., Florida
Wil Spencer, Georgia
Javier Garrapiz, Georgia
Eric Quigley, Kentucky
Marcel Thiemann, Ole Miss
Boris Conkic, Tennessee
John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee
Rhyne Williams, Tennessee
Tennys Sandgren,Tennessee
Ryan Lipman, Vanderbilt
All-SEC Second Team
Chris Nott, Arkansas
Alex Stamchev, Auburn
Nassim Slilam, Florida
Sadio Doumbia, Georgia
Drake Bernstein, Georgia
Alex Musialek, Kentucky
Alberto Gonzalez, Kentucky
Neal Skupski, LSU
Tucker Vorster, Ole Miss
Artem Ilyushin, Mississippi State
George Coupland, Mississippi State
Louis Cant, Mississippi State
Adam Baker, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman Team
Daniil Proskura, Alabama
Andrew Butz, Florida
Hernus Pieters, Georgia
Tom Jomby, Kentucky
Malte Stropp, Mississippi State
Zach White, Mississippi State