Viana and Gol Earn All-Conference USA Honors
April 30, 2008 | Men's Tennis
April 30, 2008
IRVING, Texas - A pair of East Carolina tennis players received 2008 All-Conference USA tennis honors, as announced by the league office Tuesday afternoon. Senior Henrique Viana landed on the men's second team while another senior, Mireia Gol, was named to the women's third team. Gol's selection marks the second straight season that she has garnered all-conference accolades.
In addition, Conference USA also announced its complete All-Conference first, second and third teams along with post-season award winners, as selected by the conference's head coaches. Tulsa senior Arnau Brugues earned C-USA Men's Player-of-the-Year and All-League first-team recognition for the third consecutive year, while head coach Vince Westbrook was named Coach-of-the-Year for the third straight time after leading his team to back-to-back-to-back C-USA men's tennis titles. Marshall junior Kellie Schmitt earned C-USA Women's Player-of-the-Year and All-League first-team recognition for the second consecutive year. Tulsa head coach Dean Orford also repeated as Coach-of-the-Year after guiding his squad to its second straight C-USA women's tennis title and fourth overall NCAA appearance.
The ECU men finished the season with a record of 13-12, marking the most wins for the program since the 2004 squad notched a 14-6 ledger while the women ended their campaign with a mark of 17-6, the 13th time in the last 14 seasons they have recorded double-digit victories.
Henrique Viana - 2007-08 BIO
(6-2, Senior, Pelotas, Brazil/Sao Jose)
Ranked second among all ECU singles players with 14 victories in 2008 after bouncing back from off-season shoulder surgery... Had a winning ledger in three of four positions played, putting together an overall record of 14-10 ... Played 12 matches at No. 2 (7-5), seven at No. 3 (5-2) and was perfect in two (2-0) matches at the No. 4 slot ... Also co-owned the Pirates' top singles record against Conference USA opponents, winning two of three matches (pair of straight-set victories vs. Southern Miss' Jan Burmeister and UCF's Sinan Sudas at the No. 2 slot) ... Raced out to 7-2 and 9-3 records during early portion of schedule ... Closed out career with a total of 44 career singles wins.
Mireia Gol - 2007-08 BIO
(5-2, Senior, Barcelona, Spain/Terrassa)
Captured victories in 11 of 15 matches during senior spring season, topping ECU regulars with a winning percentage of .733 ... Played primarily at the No. 3 position (9-2) but also experience action at No. 2 (2-2) ... Rallied from a 3-4 start with an eight-match win streak to close the season ... Tallied victory in only C-USA match played (straight sets over UAB's Antonia Nugent) ... Two of four setbacks came in three-set fashion, including a 3-6, 6-4, 0-1 loss to Yasmin Hamza of No. 43 Virginia Tech ... Closed career by setting East Carolina's career singles victory record - notching win No. 84 during first-round action at the C-USA Championship Tournament ... Also finished with program's top singles win percentage (.724/84-32).
