University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's tennis sophomore Roberto Vieira was named First Team All-Southern Conference by the league today. It is the second-straight postseason honor for Vieira, a native of Bedfordview, South Africa.
Vieira repeats his appearance on the first team after also taking SoCon Freshman of the Year honors in 2010. It is the third year in a row the Mocs have placed a representative on the All-SoCon First Team.
This season Vieira posted a 12-11 overall singles record, including an 8-7 mark in the No. 1 spot during the spring dual matches. He also went 5-3 in SoCon action, just missing a huge upset win last weekend against Georgia Southern. He took Juan Melian Puigventos, the 2011 SoCon Player of the Year, to three sets before falling (0-6, 6-4, 3-6). Puigventos finished the regular season with a 21-1 record and was only pushed to three sets twice in SoCon play. GSU went on to win the match 4-3.
Vieira helped to lead Chattanooga to a 7-15 overall record and a 2-8 mark in conference action. The seven wins equal the total from the last two seasons combined (5-15 in 2010 and 2-16 in 2009) and are the most wins in a year since 2008.
The Mocs will have a chance to avenge the loss to the Eagles at the 2011 SoCon Tennis Championships this week. UTC opens with Georgia Southern in the first round on Wednesday, April 20, at 2:00 p.m. (E.D.T.). Chattanooga is hosting the SoCon Tennis Tournament at the Champions Club. Live scoring for the event will be available on GoMocs.com.
