CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. – The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has announced its 2018-19 Men’s Tennis All-Conference selections, which were determined during the individual tournament that was held at the Birchwood Tennis Club on Thursday and Friday. The 2018-19 men’s tennis individual awards were also announced at the conclusion of the men’s tournament on Friday afternoon.

The individual tournament consisted of the top-four seeded student-athletes for first through sixth singles and first through third doubles. Each flight saw the No. 1 seed take on the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed take on the No. 3 seed. The first-round winners advanced to the championship round, which produced six singles champions and three doubles champions, with those student-athletes also making up the All-Conference First Team. The runners-up from each flight in the championship round made up the All-Conference Second Team, while the All-Conference Third Team consists of the winners of each flight from the consolation bracket. 

Penn State Abington junior Michael Litz (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) earned NEAC Player of the Year honors after a dominant showing in Friday’s individual tournament to become the first player in conference history to win the award three times. He posted a 6-1, 6-1 final score in his first match of the day to defeat Lesly Cruz-Munoz (Bound Brook, N.J.) from the College of Saint Elizabeth and advance to the No. 1 Singles championship match. Later in the day, Litz topped Penn State Berks junior Diego Olazagasti (Exeter, Pa.) with another 6-1, 6-1 score to win the league’s top individual honors again. He also earned All-Conference Second Team honors in No. 2 Doubles with partner Phillip Antonoff (Bayside, N.Y.) on Thursday.

Penn College’s Tucker Phillipe-Johansson (Mattituck, N.Y.) was named the NEAC Rookie of the Year after earning a spot on the All-Conference First Team in No. 2 Singles and No. 2 Doubles. Phillipe-Johansson entered the individual tournament as the No. 2 seed in his singles flight and part of the top-seeded duo with Will DeMarco (Glen Mills, Pa.) at No. 2 Doubles. In singles play on Friday, the Wildcats’ rookie won his opening match against the College of Saint Elizabeth’s Carmin Cronheim (Bound Brook, N.J.) before going on to knock off the No. 2 Singles top seed in Penn State Abington’s Ilker Erkut (Philadelphia, Pa.) by a score of 6-0, 6-1.

Lancaster Bible head coach Darren Rowles was selected as the NEAC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after a vote by his peers. In his second season at the helm, Rowles led the Chargers’ men’s team to its first NEAC/NAC West Division Regular Season and Divisional Tournament titles. Lancaster Bible went 4-0 in regular season conference matches before winning Thursday’s team final against Penn State Abington. In addition to his team’s success, Rowles had three players land on the All-NEAC First Team and 10 total all-conference selections.  

Complete results from the men’s tournament can be viewed here. The 2018-19 NEAC All-Conference Team can be viewed below.

2018-19 NEAC Men's Tennis All-Conference Team

Flight	Name	Year	Hometown	Institution
First Team
No. 1 Singles	Michael Litz	Jr.	Huntingdon Valley, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 2 Singles	Tucker Phillipe-Johansson	Fr.	Mattituck, N.Y.	Penn College
No. 3 Singles	Will DeMarco	So.	Glen Mills, Pa.	Penn College
No. 4 Singles	Ming Bowser	Sr.	Moses Lake, Wash.	Lancaster Bible
No. 5 Singles	Jose Palomeque	So.	Upper Dublin, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 6 Singles	Adam Moskal	Fr.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 1 Doubles	Diego Olazagasti Curtis Uhle	Jr. So.	Exeter, Pa. Blue Bell, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 2 Doubles	Tucker Phillipe-Johansson Will DeMarco	Fr. So.	Mattituck, N.Y. Glen Mills, Pa.	Penn College
No. 3 Doubles	Yancy Butler Derice Butler	Sr. Sr.	Port Jefferson Station, N.Y. Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.	Lancaster Bible
Second Team
No. 1 Singles	Diego Olazagasti	Jr.	Exeter, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 2 Singles	Ilker Erkut	Jr.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 3 Singles	Jeremy Heist	So.	Fleetwood, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 4 Singles	Louay Qubain	Fr.	Gladwyne, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 5 Singles	Blake Whitmire	Jr.	Shickshinny, Pa.	Penn College
No. 6 Singles	Joseph Morrin	So.	Morrisville, Pa.	Penn College
No. 1 Doubles	Michael Litz Philip Antonoff	Jr. Fr.	Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Bayside, N.Y.	Penn State Abington
No. 2 Doubles	Ilker Erkut Jose Palomeque	Jr. So.	Philadelphia, Pa. Upper Dublin, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 3 Doubles	Philip Belotserkovsky Sebastian Krystofowicz	Fr. So.	Philadelphia, Pa. Doylestown, Pa.	Penn State Abington
Third Team
No. 1 Singles	Luke Newberry	Sr.	Lititz, Pa.	Lancaster Bible
No. 2 Singles	Curtis Uhle	So.	Blue Bell, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 3 Singles	Yancy Butler	Sr.	Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.	Lancaster Bible
No. 4 Singles	Philip Belotserkovsky	Fr.	Philadelphia, Pa.	Penn State Abington
No. 5 Singles	Keven Vallette	Jr.	Douglassville, Pa.	Lancaster Bible
No. 6 Singles	Derice Butler	Sr.	Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.	Lancaster Bible
No. 1 Doubles	Luke Newberry Keven Vallette	Sr. Jr.	Lititz, Pa. Douglassville, Pa.	Lancaster Bible
No. 2 Doubles	Jeremy Heist Louay Qubain	So. Fr.	Fleetwood, Pa. Gladwyne, Pa.	Penn State Berks
No. 3 Doubles	Sneh Patel Jacob Metzger	Jr. So.	Sinking Spring, Pa. Honey Brook, Pa.	Penn State Berks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has 12 NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Cazenovia College, College of Saint Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University – Abington, Pennsylvania State University – Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, Morrisville State, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and Wells College. Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (W Lacrosse), Hilbert College (M&W Lacrosse), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse), Rutgers University – Camden (M Golf), and Wilson College (M Volleyball). The NEAC has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sport of men’s tennis and with the Colonial State Athletic Conference in the sport of Field Hockey. For more information, please visit: www.neacsports.com.