Kogan Repeats as C-USA Player of the Year
May 2, 2002 | Men's Tennis
May 2, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - For the second year in a row, Tulane University's Michael Kogan (Kfar-Saba, Israel) has been named the Conference USA Men's Tennis Player of the Year, the league announced on Thursday. Kogan, a sophomore, also won the honor as a freshman in 2001. He is the second player to repeat as C-USA Player of the Year as Tulane's Robert Samuelsson won the honor for three straight years (1997, 1998, 1999).
Kogan led Tulane (18-7) to a second-place finish in the Conference USA Tournament and posted a 17-4 record in singles action this spring. He also recorded a 20-2 record in doubles action, including 19-2 with junior Victor Romero (Atizapan, Mexico). Romero and Kogan were named the Outstanding Doubles Team of the C-USA Tournament. That duo is ranked No. 19 in the country.
Kogan, who is currently ranked No. 20 in the Omni Hotels ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, also earned First Team All-Conference honors. He was joined by Romero, the No. 56 ranked played in the nation, on the First Team. Romero posted a 15-6 singles record this year, playing at No. 1 and No. 2. He is also a repeat selection to the all-league first team.
Junior Mattias Westerberg (Lulea, Sweden), who was honored as Tulane's Most Improved Player at the 2002 Scholar-Athlete Banquet on Monday, earned All-Conference Third Team honors. He posted an impressive 14-3 singles mark this season.
South Florida coach Don Barr was named the league's Coach of the Year after guiding the Bulls to the 2002 Conference USA Championship. TCU's Fabrizio Sestini was named the Freshman of the Year for C-USA.
Joining Kogan and Romero on the league's first team were Paco Antelo and Martin Wetzel from South Florida, Jevgenij Cariov from DePaul and TCU's Toni Gordon.
The second team was comprised of Cody Conley of Louisville, Ola Jonsson of Charlotte, Miika Kangas of Southern Miss, Sestini, Ben Stapp of Memphis and UAB's Andre Van Der Merwe.
In addition to Westerberg, the third team included Michael Chamberlain of Memphis, Ikaika Jobe of Saint Louis, Alex Jung of UAB and Dan McCain and Nadim Naser of South Florida.
The Green Wave will learn later today if it will receive its sixth straight bid to the NCAA Championship. The NCAA announces its selections via webcast at 5:30 p.m. (Central), More information can be found by visiting http://www.ncaachampionships.com.
Visit the Green Wave Online Store for official Tulane clothing, caps, merchandise and gifts.
Players Mentioned
