April 23, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - San Diego State men's tennis teammates Bartosz Golas, Juan Gomez, and Matan Shitrit earned all-Mountain West Conference accolades on Wednesday night at the league's annual championship banquet. Golas and Shitrit were honored by the MWC coaches for their performances in singles play this season, while the tandem of Golas and Gomez received all-doubles recognition. The selections were the first career all-conference awards for all three players.
A junior from Munich, Germany, Golas played primarily in the top two spots on SDSU's singles ladder in 2008, compiling a 13-9 record in dual-match competition. In MWC action, Golas finished with a 3-3 mark; however, two of his three losses were of the three-set variety, while another came at the expense of Utah's Zach Ganger, who was named the league's co-player of the year along with Cosmin Cotet of TCU.
In doubles, Golas teamed with Gomez, a sophomore from Guayaquil, Ecuador, at the No. 1 position for the majority of the dual-match season, posting a 13-5 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in league play. Among the highlights for the Aztec duo was an 8-6 triumph over another all-MWC pairing in New Mexico's Max Jones and Kamil Pajkowski, one of only two defeats the Lobo tandem suffered in its last 12 matches of the regular season.
Shitrit, meanwhile, became one of SDSU's pleasant surprises in 2008 after steadily working his way to the top of the Aztecs' singles rotation during the latter half of the season. A sophomore who hails from Tel Aviv, Israel, Shitrit fashioned a 13-9 record this spring, including a 3-3 mark in MWC action. All three of those losses, though, were at the hands of nationally ranked players in Jones, Cotet and Elliot Wronski of UNLV, who was also named to the league's all-singles squad.
San Diego State (12-11) returns to the courts on Thursday when it squares off against Utah (13-10) in the quarterfinal round of the MWC Championships at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center on the campus of TCU in Fort Worth. First serve is set for 10 a.m. CT.
2008 Men's Tennis All-MWC Team
Singles Doubles*Max Jones, Sr., New Mexico *Max Jones/Kamil Pajkowski, New MexicoGraeme Kassautzki, Jr., New Mexico Chris Parkes/Johnny Parkes, New Mexico*Johnny Parkes, Jr., New Mexico Bartosz Golas/Juan Gomez, San Diego StateBartosz Golas, Jr., San Diego State *Cosmin Cotet/Kriegler Brink, TCUMatan Shitrit, So., San Diego State Elliot Wronski/David Campbell, UNLVEmanu Brighiu, Fr., TCU *Zach Ganger/Miron Mann, UtahKriegler Brink, Jr., TCU*Cosmin Cotet, Sr., TCU Co-Players of the Year:Luca Barlocchi, So, UNLV Cosmin Cotet, TCU; Zach Ganger, Utah*Elliot Wronski, Jr., UNLV*Zach Ganger, Sr., Utah Freshman of the Year: Thomas Shubert, BYU*Miron Mann, Sr., Utah Coach of the Year: Alan Dils, New Mexico
*notes repeat selection