IRVING — UTSA head coach Jeff Kader, senior Tomas Stillman and sophomore Tito Moreiras combined to collect eight Conference USA Men’s Tennis honors, the league office announced on Thursday.
Kader was named C-USA Coach of the Year after leading the Roadrunners to the league's tournament championship from April 17-19 in Norfolk, Va. UTSA edged Southern Miss, 4-3, before upsetting No. 58 Old Dominion and 54th-ranked Rice, both by 4-2 scores, to claim its second conference title in the last four years. Kader, who is in his fifth year at the helm, has guided UTSA to a 17-8 record — a school record for wins in a season — and a No. 58 national ranking by the ITA, and he will lead the Roadrunners into the NCAA Tournament for the second time in his tenure when they face LSU (17-8) at 3 p.m. next Friday, May 8, in Waco. Kader is the third UTSA head coach to be named conference coach of the year, joining former Southland Coaches of the Year Becky Roberts (1994) and Oliver Trittenwein (2001).
Stillman was tabbed C-USA Player of the Year along with earning Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship and first-team all-conference singles honors. The Harlingen native also shared Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship and first-team all-conference doubles accolades with Moreiras. He became just the second Roadrunner to be named conference player of the year (Victor Sanchez, 1996 Southland).
Stillman has registered a 20-3 singles record, all as UTSA’s No. 1 player, and he has been nationally-ranked by the ITA all season, as high as No. 42 and currently 80th. He has won his last seven and 18 of his last 19 completed matches, including triumphs against Southern Miss, Old Dominion and the clinching decision against Rice in the C-USA Tournament Championship Match. Stillman, the C-USA Newcomer of the Year and a second-team all-conference selection a year ago, totes a 41-5 dual-match record during his two-year UTSA career after transferring from Toledo.
Meanwhile, Moreiras gave UTSA back-to-back C-USA Newcomers of the Year along with being named second-team all-conference in singles. The San Antonio Churchill High School product has put together a 17-5 singles ledger in his first campaign with the Roadrunners. He is 12-2 at his usual No. 3 position, while he also won both contests at No. 2. Moreiras has won 14 of his last 16 completed matches, including sweeps against Old Dominion and Rice in the C-USA Tournament and an upset of No. 75 Daniel Leitner of South Alabama.
Moreiras and Stillman have teamed up for an 8-1 doubles record at No. 1 since first playing together on March 12. The duo — currently ranked 62nd nationally and as high as No. 50 — owns two ranked wins this season, including an upset of Texas A&M’s 32nd-ranked team of Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo. They also combined for a pair of wins in the C-USA Tournament and their only setback is to Texas’ then-19th-ranked tandem of Lloyd Glasspool and Soren Hess-Olesen.
2015 Conference USA Men’s Tennis Awards
Player of the Year
Tomas Stillman, UTSA
Freshman of the Year
Adam Moundir, Old Dominion
Newcomer of the Year
Tito Moreiras, UTSA
Coach of the Year
Jeff Kader, UTSA
Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship
Tomas Stillman, UTSA
Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship
Tomas Stillman/Tito Moreiras, UTSA
First-Team All-Conference USA Singles
Srikar Alla, Rice
Forrest Edwards, Charlotte
Carlos Lopez Villa, Old Dominion
Jordi Massalle Ferrer, Charlotte
Tomas Stillman, UTSA
Ettore Zito, Middle Tennessee
Second-Team All-Conference USA Singles
Vikram Hundal, Charlotte
Gian Issa, Middle Tennessee
Tito Moreiras, UTSA
Andrei Morin-Kougoucheff, Florida Atlantic
Adam Moundir, Old Dominion
Will Neuner, Florida Atlantic
First-Team All-Conference USA Doubles
Max Andrews/David Warren, Rice
Vikram Hundai/Jack Williams, Charlotte
Tito Moreiras/Tomas Stillman, UTSA