COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M’s Valentin Vacherot became the program’s first SEC Player of the Year as he was named to the All-SEC first team alongside Hady Habib, Carlos Aguilar was among the All-SEC second team and Raphael Perot earned All-Freshman Team accolades, the league office announced Friday.
“First of all I would like to congratulate all the award winners in the SEC from all our great universities,” Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. “This has been a trying year in so many ways, but our conference has stood tall and shown great leadership in college tennis. I am so happy and grateful for all our Aggie All-SEC selections. They have all worked extremely hard this season to make this a special year.”
Vacherot, a Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France native, improved to 85-20 all-time in the Maroon & White in dual matches at the SEC Tournament last week, tying the program record for dual singles wins with Kimmio Alkio (1982-86) and Greg Hill (1982-85). The right hander is the league’s only student-athlete to be ranked in the top-five for the entire 2021 season as he posted a team-best 14 ranked wins. Over his time in Aggieland he has recorded an astonishing 43-6 all-time mark in conference matches including a program record 19-match conference win streak. The first team honor is the first of Vacherot’s career after earning second team nods in each of the three previous completed seasons.
Habib, from Houston, Texas, became the program’s first No. 1 ranked singles player on March 24 of this year. The senior has recorded a 15-5 record this season including five wins over ranked-foes. The first team recognition is the first in Habib’s career after claiming second team honors in 2019 and All-Freshman Team recognition in 2017.
Aguilar, born in London, England, earned All-SEC honors for the third consecutive time after being among the first team in 2019 and second team in 2018. Currently ranked No. 6 alongside Bjorn Thomson in the doubles rankings, he has earned doubles All-American honors twice while in Aggieland and is on pace to become just the third Aggie to earn doubles All-American honors on three occasions.
Perot, from Octeville-sur-Mer, France, finished second on the team with eight SEC wins this season as he provided critical points in A&M’s wins against No. 12 South Carolina, No. 15 Kentucky and No. 16 Mississippi State. The right-hander becomes the ninth Aggie to earn All-Freshman team honors since A&M joined the league in 2013.
“Val coming back for his fifth year after a disappointing stoppage of last season due to the pandemic and showing tremendous leadership and playing at such a high level all season,” Denton added. “Hady in overcoming so much adversity to have been ranked number one in the country earlier in the year and his tremendous professionalism and love for tennis is just awesome to see. Carlos in being so very good in singles and doubles all season and his love for his teammates and his love for competition is a testament to who he is. This senior class is a major reason why our program has been so good the last few seasons. Finally, our freshman, Raphael who has improved so much over the course of the season. I just love his work ethic and his humility. What a great day for Aggie Tennis to be recognized by our peers.”
FOLLOW THE AGGIES
Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M men’s tennis. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M men’s tennis team on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter by following @AggieMTEN.
2021 SEC MEN’S TENNIS AWARDS
First Team All-SEC
Edson Ortiz, Alabama
Tyler Stice, Auburn
Sam Riffice, Florida
Duarte Vale, Florida
Andy Andrade, Florida
Liam Draxl, Kentucky
Gabriel Diallo, Kentucky
Tim Sandkaulen, Ole Miss
Finn Reynolds, Ole Miss
Daniel Rodrigues, South Carolina
Connor Thomson, South Carolina
Johannus Monday, Tennessee
Adam Walton, Tennessee
Hady Habib, Texas A&M
Valentin Vacherot, Texas A&M
Second Team All-SEC
Blaise Bicknell, Florida
Trent Bryde, Georgia
Philip Henning, Georgia
Tyler Zink , Georgia
Millen Hurrion, Kentucky
Ronnie Hohmann, LSU
Nikola Slavic, Ole Miss
Giovanni Oradini, Mississippi State
Florian Broska, Mississippi State
Toby Samuel, South Carolina
Carlos Aguilar, Texas A&M
George Harwell, Vanderbilt
All-Freshman
Ben Shelton, Florida
John Hallquist Lithén, Ole Miss
Nemanja Malesevic, Mississippi State
Toby Samuel, South Carolina
Johannus Monday, Tennessee
Raphael Perot, Texas A&M
Player of the Year
Valentin Vacherot, Texas A&M
Freshman of the Year
Johannus Monday, Tennessee
Newcomer of the Year
Liam Draxl, Kentucky
Coach of the Year
Bryan Shelton, Florida
