May 13, 2014
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ryan Lipman, Gonzales Austin and assistant coach Jamie Huntof the 19th-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team all received Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) regional awards, as was announced by the organizations Executive Director Tuesday morning. Vanderbilt is in the Ohio Valley region, which is one of 10 Division I regions across the country.
Lipman headlines the group with his second-consecutive Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. Austin receives ITA Player to Watch, while Hunt was named ITA Assistant Coach of the Year.
All of the regional winners are automatically nominated for the ITA Division I National Awards which will be announced on Tuesday, May 20.
According to the ITA the Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award recognizes outstanding individuals in all divisions at the regional and national level. This award which dates back to 1982, goes to NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and JUCO men’s and women’s players who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
Lipman has made a big impact both on and off the court in his time at Vanderbilt. The senior from Nashville holds a career singles record of 94-45 and a career doubles record of 76-40. He sits just two wins shy of the career combined wins record and five wins shy of the singles wins record at Vanderbilt.
Lipman has received All-Southeastern Conference honors in each of his four years with the Black and Gold and was named an ITA All-American as a junior, among many other career honors.
Off the court, Lipman is the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and was instrumental in spearheading multiple community outreach programs. The Vandy senior has volunteered at local schools and also helped the men’s tennis team raise over $1300 in two weeks to benefit the Special Olympics of Tennessee.
Austin receives his first ITA regional honor as the 2014 Player to Watch. The Player to Watch award goes to a student-athlete who has been ranked in the ITA top 50 and is a contender to win one of the many ITA or NCAA tournaments.
The junior from Miami stands with a singles record of 27-9 on the season, playing primarily out of the No. 1 position. He also plays No. 1 doubles alongside Lipman, the duo has posted a record of 28-6 on the year.
Austin has posted a record of 14-6 against ranked opponents and finished the season 5-1 against players out of the Ohio Valley. One of the bigger wins this season for the junior came against the Ohio Valley’s own Tom Jomby of Kentucky who was ranked No. 11 at the time.
This season Austin has been ranked as high as No. 9 in singles and No. 1 in doubles and he hasn’t fallen any lower than No. 24 or No. 5 in singles and doubles, respectively, during the dual season.
Austin receives his third-consecutive All-SEC honor, being named to the conference’s First Team. The junior had a standout fall season, making it to the semifinals of the ITA-All-American tournament and the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships.
Hunt was a big part of the reason that Vanderbilt posted the kind of wins it did. In his fourth season with the Commodores he helped the Dores to many firsts.
Alongside head coach Ian Duvenhage, Hunt led the Commodores to their first win over Tennessee since 2006, first win over Florida since 2004 and first win over Georgia, also since 2004. The win over Georgia also sent Vandy to the SEC Tournament semifinals, a place it hadn’t been since winning the conference tournament in 2004.
Both Lipman and Austin will play in the 2014 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships beginning next week in Athens, Ga.