ROCK HILL, SC – Presbyterian College sophomore Paul Ratchford (Delta, BC, Canada), who went undefeated in conference play (6-0) and 16-3 overall, was named the South Atlantic Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Year, the league announced today.

Ratchford was one of three Blue Hose named to the All-Conference Team. Hector Rincon, who received the SAC Scholar Athlete Award for Men’s Tennis, was also named to the First Team.

SAC regular season champion Tusculum placed five on All-Conference Team, including Roberto Robles and Sergio Espinosa on the First Team. Espinosa (Caracas, Venezuela/Colegio Humboldt) was named the SAC Men’s Tennis Freshman of the Year.

Tusculum head coach Tommy Arnett was named SAC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year after leading the Pioneers to their second regular season title. He wins the award for the second time in his career.

Rincon, a junior from London, England, has a 3.83 grade point average as a business administration and math major. He was the SAC Freshman of the Year in 2003 and the Player of the Year last year.

He was an ITA Academic All-American last year and has been on the Presbyterian College’s President’s List (4.0 GPA) for two semesters and Dean’s List (3.3 GPA) for five. He is the recipient of the Bailey Scholarship for outstanding achievement in the business department and the Whitelaw Scholarship for outstanding achievement in the math department.

In the community, Rincon serves as a math tutor for middle and high school students, volunteers with Special Olympics and is a member of the Presbyterian College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

2005 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS AWARD WINNERS
FIRST TEAM
Jose Velasquez, Catawba
Diego Rodriguez, Mars Hill
Paul Ratchford, Presbyterian
Hector Rincon, Presbyterian
Roberto Robles, Tusculum
Sergio Espinosa, Tusculum
Jacobo Uribe, Wingate
Joe Kanekar, Wingate
SECOND TEAM
Eric Noll, Catawba
Oscar Gomez, Mars Hill
John Allen, Mars Hill
Toby Rawlings, Newberry
Kshitij Dwivedi, Presbyterian
Jesse Puckerin, Tusculum
Carlos Garcia, Tusculum
Michael Hallford, Tusculum

COACH OF THE YEAR – Tommy Arnett, Tusculum
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Sergio Espinosa, Tusculum
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Paul Ratchford, Presbyterian
SAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE – Hector Rincon, Presbyterian

SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE SENIOR AWARDS
Carson-Newman College
Joaquin Goni
Catawba College
Alvin Owusu, Eric Noll
Mars Hill College
Joel Vanderhorst
Ross DiLoreto
Newberry College
Kaushik Srihdar
Presbyterian College
Alistair Morgan
Wingate University
Chase Carman, Jacobo Uribe, Kotaro Noguchi