SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Four different USC Upstate men's tennis players were honored by the Atlantic Sun after solid seasons on the courts, the conference office in Macon, Ga., announced today.  Ramiro Blanco highlighted the Spartan honorees as a First-Team All-Conference selection.

Matias Di Pasquale (Singles No. 3) and Marco Linconir (Singles No. 5) were honored as second team members, while Gonzalo Blanco earned a spot on the conference's All-Freshmen Team.

"First and foremost, I am proud of the effort that the entire team gave throughout the year," said head coach Oliver Trittenwein.  "This is a tremendous honor for each of our athletes and it shows that their hard work and determination paid off.  I am also proud of the leadership that our upperclassmen showed all season long as they were the driving force behind a strong conference season."

Ramiro Blanco earned a spot on the A-Sun First-Team after posting a 15-6 singles record and was 9-1 in singles action during the conference season.  Blanco posted four consecutive singles victories from Feb. 16 to Feb. 23.  His win streak was snapped by ETSU's Jesus Bandres (5-7, 6-2, 5-7) on Feb. 26.

After dropping the three-set thriller to Bandres, Blanco ran the table the rest of the way going a perfect 10-0 down the stretch.  The junior's final five wins came in straight sets.

Sophomore Matias Di Pasquale earned second-team honors after wrapping up 2011 with a 14-7 mark in singles action.  Di Pasquale opened the season with a 1-4 mark, with the victory coming at the ITA Kick-off against Clemson's Cal Hilsman (2-6, 6-4, 7-5).  The first-year Spartan lost just twice over the final 15 matches of the season.

Marco Linconir joined Di Pasquale on the A-Sun's Second-Team after a successful senior campaign.  Linconir finished 2011 with an 11-10 singles record but was nearly flawless in A-Sun play as he finished 8-1.  His lone A-Sun loss of the season came in the conference opener against ETSU's Juan Ramirez.

The final Spartan to earn A-Sun honors was Spartan rookie Gonzalo Blanco.  Blanco, playing primarily at singles position number four, closed out his freshman campaign with nine victories in his final 15 matches.  The All-Freshman team selection teamed with Edgar Rodriguez at doubles number two for most of the season and the duo finished with a 9-6 record.

Men's All-Conference

Tennis Player of the Year

*Davy Sum, Campbell

*Unanimous Selection

Freshman of the Year

Fernando Guillen, Campbell

Coach of the Year

Igal Buberman, UNF

First Team

* Davy Sum, Campbell

* Moritz Buerchner, UNF

* Hleb Maslau, UNF

Ramiro Blanco, USC Upstate

Sander Gille, ETSU

Oliver Strecker, Lipscomb

Jesus Bandres, ETSU

Grega Teraz, ETSU

Njal Stene, Stetson

*Unanimous Selection

** A tie in voting ended with nine student-athletes being named to first team

Second Team

Singles

No. 1 Rodrigo Amaral, Belmont

No. 2 Cesare Gallo, Stetson

No. 3 Matias Di Pasquale, USC Upstate

No. 4 Dominik Kaniewski, Campbell

No. 5 Marco Linconir, USC Upstate

No. 6 Roger Ordeig, ETSU

Doubles

No. 1 Davy Sum/Dominik Kaniewski, Campbell

No. 2 Hleb Maslau/Daniel Sotomarino, UNF

No. 3 Pedro Davisson/Leonardo Nahar, UNF

All-Freshman Team

* Fernando Guillen, Campbell

David Salazar, Lipscomb

Roger Ordeig, ETSU

Guilherme Frias, Mercer

Pedro Davisson, UNF

Gonzalo Blanco, USC Upstate

Ryan Spencer, Kennesaw State

Larry Condez, Jacksonville

Beauregard Treyz, UNF

*Unanimous Selection

** A tie in voting ended with nine student-athletes being named to all-freshman team