The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Netters Thiemann, Vorster Earn All-SEC Honors
4/27/2011 | Men's Tennis
April 27, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Ole Miss men's tennis players Marcel Thiemann and Tucker Vorster earned All-SEC honors as the conference's yearly awards were announced Wednesday by the league office.
Thiemann, a junior, earned first team honors for the second year in a row, while Vorster, one of two seniors on the team, made the second team for the second straight year.
"We are extremely proud of Marcel and Tucker," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "This is the toughest league in the country, and they both have been instrumental in helping position us for a likely two seed in the NCAAs."
Thiemann, a native of Lehrte, Germany, is currently ranked No. 37 in the nation in singles and No. 11 in doubles with his brother Chris. He played No. 1 singles for the second year in a row and went 6-5 in the SEC, including a win over the nation's No. 6 ranked player to help the Rebels to a huge win over No. 8 Florida on the road. Thiemann was named the SEC Player of the Week on March 23.
Vorster, a native of Pretoria, South Africa, has vaulted up the singles rankings to No. 50 after a huge win over the nation's No. 3 ranked player in the SEC Tournament match against Tennessee. Vorster went 7-3 in the SEC at No. 2 singles. He is 12-5 the last two years in the SEC playing in the top half of the lineup.
The Rebels will find out their postseason destination Tuesday, May 3 when the NCAA selections are announced on NCAA.com.
SEC MEN'S TENNIS AWARDS
Coach of the Year: Per Nilsson, Mississippi State
Player of the Year: John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee
Freshman of the Year: Malte Stropp, Mississippi State
Scholar Athlete of the Year: Tim Puetz, Auburn
All-SEC First Team
Tim Puetz, Auburn
Alexandre Lacroix, Florida
Sekou Bangoura Jr., Florida
Wil Spencer, Georgia
Javier Garrapiz, Georgia
Eric Quigley, Kentucky
Marcel Thiemann, Ole Miss
Boris Conkic, Tennessee
John-Patrick Smith, Tennessee
Rhyne Williams, Tennessee
Tennys Sandgren,Tennessee
Ryan Lipman, Vanderbilt
All-SEC Second Team
Chris Nott, Arkansas
Alex Stamchev, Auburn
Nassim Slilam, Florida
Sadio Doumbia, Georgia
Drake Bernstein, Georgia
Alex Musialek, Kentucky
Alberto Gonzalez, Kentucky
Neal Skupski, LSU
Tucker Vorster, Ole Miss
Artem Ilyushin, Mississippi State
George Coupland, Mississippi State
Louis Cant, Mississippi State
Adam Baker, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman Team
Daniil Proskura, Alabama
Andrew Butz, Florida
Hernus Pieters, Georgia
Tom Jomby, Kentucky
Malte Stropp, Mississippi State
Zach White, Mississippi State
