Kuzmenok, Navarro Earn All-Conference Honors, Ustundag Named AAC Coach of the Year
4/30/2025 2:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis
IRVING, Texas — The American Athletic Conference announced its tennis postseason awards on Wednesday afternoon, with Rice earning several awards.
The men's team honors consists of six singles players and three doubles tandems (including ties in voting) based on a combination of ITA rankings and coaches' vote.
The honors are headlined by head coach Efe Ustundag's Coach of the Year honor. It is the third of his career and his first since 2017. Coach Ustundag earned the recognition after leading the Owls through three upsets in the AAC Championship, claiming the conference title, Rice's first in the AAC and first since 2017.
Sophomore Petro Kuzmenok earned All-Conference Singles recognition after earning a 13-7 duals record this season, spending a majority of the time at the No. 2 position with a 9-6 record while earning a 4-1 record playing at the No. 1 position. Kuzmenok represents Rice's first AAC All-Conference Singles honoree and the first all-conference singles since Trinity Grear in 2023 (C-USA).
Santiago Navarro and Kuzmenok earned All-Conference Doubles recognition after combining to go 11-6 this season, including a 10-3 duals record. The tandem spent a majority of the time this season at the No. 1 position, compiling a 8-2 record and winning the previous six matches, while also earning a 2-1 record at the No. 2 position. The duo also owns a 2-1 record against nationally-ranked competition this season. The two are ranked 85th in the ITA's most recent rankings, the third-highest ranked duo in the American.
Rice will open the NCAA Tournament in the College Station Regional, taking on host Texas A&M for the second-straight year.
2025 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S TENNIS POSTSEASON HONORS
Player of the Year
Hugo Car, Sr., South Florida
Freshman of the Year
Gughi Verdese, South Florida
Coach of the Year
Efe Ustundag, Rice
All-Conference Team
Singles
John Bernard, Sr., Florida Atlantic
Pablo Alemany, Sr., Memphis
Conor Gannon, Sr., Memphis
Petro Kuzmenok, So., Rice
Hugo Car, Sr., South Florida
Tiago Torres (Sr.), UTSA
Alex Okonkwo (So.), Tulsa
Doubles
Santiago Navarro (Jr.)/Petro Kuzmenok (So.), Rice
Vasco Prata (Jr.)/Matias Iturbe (Sr.), Charlotte
Hugo Car (Sr.)/Ettore Danesi (Fr.), South Florida
