Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki tennis players earn MVC Scholar-Athlete recognition
04/26/2016 | 12:00:00 | Women's Tennis
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Five Saluki tennis players were recognized as MVC Scholar-Athletes for their academic success on Tuesday with the announcement of the 2016 men's and women's tennis Scholar-Athlete teams. Two SIU women and three men earned Scholar-Athlete accolades.
On the women's side, juniors Polina Dozortseva and Meagan Monaghan were both named first team Scholar-Athletes. Dozortseva currently posts an impressive 3.963 cumulative grade point average in management, earning her second consecutive first team Scholar-Athlete honor. She finished the regular season with a 13-6 overall record in singles and 11-3 in dual matches, mainly from the No. 6 spot. Dozortseva has earned 11 doubles wins this season, and is 11-2 against MVC opponents in doubles and singles combined.
Monaghan receives Scholar-Athlete honors after earning Honorable Mention Scholar-Athlete last season. She is 12-16 in singles this season, playing primarily at the No. 3 spot, and posts a 9-10 doubles record, mainly at the No. 2 position. She also earned a win in her sole appearance at the No. 1 doubles spot. Monaghan has a 3.913 cumulative in exercise science.
The SIU men's team had three players earn Scholar-Athlete recognition – Jonny Rigby and Wilder Pimentel as first team Scholar-Athletes and Daniel Martinez on the honorable mention team.
Jonny Rigby earned first team Scholar-Athlete honors for the third time in his career. The senior graduated in May with a 3.48 GPA in management, and is now working toward his master's in sports studies. Rigby has posted 21 wins in singles this season, with a 13-4 record in dual matches, and has won six of his last seven singles matches. He leads the team with 17 doubles wins, 10 of which came this spring at the No. 1 spot, and totals 66 career doubles wins, the most by any Saluki in program history. His 143 combined doubles and singles career wins rank second all-time in SIU history.
Wilder Pimentel had a standout debut season with the Salukis after transferring from VCU this spring. Pimentel 3.50 GPA in economics earned him a spot on the Scholar-Athlete first team roster. He leads the Salukis with 27 wins in singles, ranking second in SIU history for most singles wins in a spring season, and is the winner of seven of his last eight singles matches. Pimentel has also posted a 14-5 record in doubles, and is 10-5 this spring from the No. 2 spot. winning six of his last seven scored matches.
As a member of the Scholar-Athlete honorable mention team, Daniel Martinez earns his first academic accolades of his career. This season, Martinez was a finalist at the Purdue Fall Invitational Flight C Doubles draw, and went 7-4 in singles and 4-1 in doubles in the fall season. He currently posts a 6-8 record in singles from the No. 6 spot and is 9-5 in doubles from the No. 3 spot. The sophomore has a 3.5 cumulative GPA in economics.
Players Mentioned
