CHARLOTTE, NC – The Big South Conference released its men's and women's tennis All-Decade Teams Monday and Winthrop had 14 selections to the women's teams and seven representatives on the men's squads.
The 14 Winthrop Eagles voted to the women's teams was the most of any school represented. On the 1980s team, Winthrop had three honorees. Kelly Grant was voted to the singles team, earning one Player of the Year award. Grant along with Maria Rask were voted to the doubles team as both earned All-Conference honors in doubles.
Sussy Boyanovich, a three-time All-Conference selection and two-time Player of the Year was voted to the singles 1990s team. Also voted to the squad was Carolina de Freitas, a two-time All-Conference honoree and Player of the year along with Juliana Marques a three-time All-Conference selection and a Player of the Year recipient.
Marques was also voted to the doubles team in the 1990s as she was a four-time All-Conference selection. Su-Peng Na a three-time All-Conference honoree and Ana Marie Rojas, a two-time All-Conference award winner, were both also voted to the 1990s doubles team.
Current Winthrop women's head coach Cid Carvalho was voted as the 1990s All-Decade coach. He won four championships in the 1990s and was a five-time Coach of the Year.
On the 2000s team, Patricia Coimbra and Ana Paula Novaes were voted to the singles team. Coimbra and Novaes were both four-time All-Conference selections and each earned a Player of the Year award. Noves was also selected to the doubles squad where she was a three-time All-Conference honoree. Jenny Andrade was also voted to the doubles team as a three-time All-Conference selection.
Carvalho was once again voted the 2000s All-Decade coach. He won eight championships in 10 years which resulted in eight NCAA Tournament bids. He was also voted the Coach of the Year three times.
Winthrop had two players voted to the 1980s Men's All-Decade Team on the doubles side: Zach Bogue and Roberto Olivero. Bogue was a two-time All-Conference selection while Olivero earned one All-Conference nod.
Joau Leite was the only Winthrop selection to the 1990s team. Leite was voted to both the singles and doubles teams. He was a three-time All-Conference selection and won a Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year award as a singles player. As a doubles competitor, he was a two-time All-Conference honoree.
Clayton Almeida and Rodrigo Santos were both voted to the 2000s team. Almeida was voted to both the singles and doubles teams. He was a four-time Player of the Year, a Rookie of the Year award winner and a four-time All-Conference selection. As a doubles player he was a three-time All-Conference honoree. Santos was named to the singles team as a four-time All-Conference selection.
As part of the Big South's 30th Anniversary celebration in 2013-14, the Conference is announcing its first-ever All-Decade Teams to recognize the student-athletes and coaches who excelled in their respective sport since the Conference's founding in 1983. A committee of Big South Conference administrators served as the official voting panel to determine the All-Decade Teams, with fan voting comprising 20 percent of the overall total.
