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Osintsev, Dandan And Coach Mills Highlight West Coast Conference Men's Tennis Awards
Click here to watch video with Derek Mills, Kyle Dandan and Ilya Osintsev
SANTA MATEO, Calif. – Just a day after grabbing its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid in men's tennis, Santa Clara garnered seven different honors from the West Coast Conference on a vote by the league's coaches. The Broncos' WCC awards were highlighted by Ilya Osintsev winning the WCC Freshman of the Year and Kyle Dandan's All-WCC Singles First Team.
In addition, Bronco head coach Derek Mills was named the Co-Coach of the Year along with WCC champion Pepperdine head coach Adam Steinberg. Mills led the Broncos to a school-best 21 wins this year and their first-ever NCAA Tournament bid. Mills is only the second Bronco coach to receive the honor in men's tennis.
Osintsev, Dandan, John Lamble and Tom Pham all picked up numerous awards. In addition to his WCC Freshman of the Year honor, Osintsev also picked up All-WCC Honorable Mention honors in singles and a Second Team All-WCC in doubles. Osintsev is just the second Bronco to be named WCC Freshman of the Year after Chris Lam picked up the honors in 2002.
In his final season as a Bronco, Dandan continued his phenomenal season by picking up First Team All-WCC singles honors and Honorable Mention in doubles. Santa Clara's No. 1 singles player is currently ranked No. 78 in the ITA, the highest individual ranking for a Santa Clara player. Dandan was also First Team All-WCC last year. He is the first player since Lars Nelson in 1999-2000 to be named All-WCC First Team in back-to-back years (only two players in school history). Dandan was Honorable Mention his sophomore year.
Pham, a junior, played as the No. 4 singles player all year. At one point, the junior won 16-straight matches and finished tied for the team's overall win total (23). Pham picked up All-WCC Honorable Mention in both singles and doubles. As a doubles player, Pham and Dandan turned into a formidable No. 2 tandem that helped the Broncos routinely secure the doubles point during dual matches.
Lamble, a sophomore, had a break-out season for Santa Clara. The Bay Area native played as the Bronco' No. 2 singles player and posted a 23-7 individual record. Lamble strung together six consecutive wins during the month of April. For his outstanding play at the Broncos' No. 2 singles player, Lamble garnered Second Team All-WCC singles accolades.
For most of the season, Lamble and Osintsev teamed up to be the top doubles pair for the Broncos. The Bronco tandem pulled off a major upset in route to their crowning as WCC Doubles Players of the Month for the month of March. The Santa Clara duo upset the country's then-No. 2 team, Alex Llompart and Finn Tearney of Pepperdine.
The Broncos will make their first postseason debut in the NCAA Tournament against Texas at Stanford University May 12 at 9 am.
WCC HONORS
SINGLES – First Team
Finn Tearney, Pepperdine
Georgy Batrakov, BYU
Kyle Dandan, Santa Clara
Nikola Bubnic, San Diego
Patrick Pohlmann, San Diego
Sebastian Fanselow, Pepperdine
SINGLES – Second Team
Alex Llompart, Pepperdine
Clarke Spinosa, San Diego
John Lamble, Santa Clara
Maxime Olivan, Saint Mary's
Spencer Smith, BYU
Thai Tu, San Francisco
Honorable Mention: Alvaro Nazal, GON; Geoff Hernandez, POR; Ilya Osintsev, SCU; Michael Hu Kwo, POR; Nicholas Bjerke, LMU; Patrick Kawka, BYU; Thibaut Visy, USD; Tom Pham, SCU
DOUBLES – First Team
Alex Llompart/Finn Tearney, Pepperdine
Jenson Turner/Sebastian Fanselow, Pepperdine
Nikola Bubnic/Thibaut Visy, San Diego
DOUBLES – Second Team
Georgy Batrakov/Patrick Kawka, BYU
Ilya Osintsev/John Lamble, Santa Clara
Nicholas Bjerke/Sebastian Bustamante, Loyola Marymount
Honorable Mention: Alex Ferrero/Michael Hu Kwo, POR; Francis Sargeant/Spencer Smith, BYU; Hugh Clarke/David Sofaer, PEP; Kyle Dandan/Tom Pham, SCU; Scott Sullivan/Zhia Hwa Chong, GON
