Austin, Texas – No. 1 Men's Tennis earned several Big 12 Men's Tennis postseason awards, including junior Eliot Spizzirri as Player of the Year, five All-Big 12 selections with three of those on the first team, and a conference-leading six individual champions, the Big 12 announced Friday.
Spizzirri becomes the sixth Longhorn to be named the Big 12 Men's Player of the Year with the last being Christian Sigsgaard, who shared the honor in 2019. The others include Søren Hess-Olesen in 2014, Dimitar Kutrovsky in 2010, Travis Helgeson in 2006 and Jean Simon in 2002.
The All-Big 12 team honorees included first-team selections in Spizzirri and sophomore Pierre-Yves Bailly in singles and the duo of Spizzirri and junior Cleeve Harper in doubles. Junior Siem Woldeab earned second-team accolades in singles, while the pair of Woldeab and Bailly was also on the second team in doubles.
It marks the third-straight season Spizzirri and Woldeab have earned All-Big 12 recognition with Spizzirri having been on the second team in both singles and doubles last year when he played through injury, and on the first team in both in 2021. Meanwhile, Woldeab was on the second team in doubles last season, along with being on the first team in doubles and the second team in singles the year before.
For Bailly and Harper, it is their second-straight season being honored. Bailly was on the second team in singles last season, along with being Freshman of the Year, while Harper was on the first team in doubles. No awards were given following the 2020 season due to the pandemic.
The conference also honored individual champions at each position based on record in conference play, and Texas garnered a league-leading six with no other team having more than two.
In singles, the Longhorns had a champion at the top three lines, including Spizzirri at No. 1, Bailly at No. 2, and Woldeab at No. 3 as a co-champion. Senior Nevin Arimilli was then also a co-champion at No. 5. In doubles, it was Spizzirri and Harper at No. 1, along with the combo of senior Chih Chi Huang and junior Evin McDonald at No. 3.
It marks the third position title for Harper, who earned one at No. 1 doubles last season and was co-champion at No. 4 singles in 2021, while it is the second for Spizzirri, who was co-champion at No. 1 singles two season ago.
Spizzirri is now 32-4 overall in singles and 19-1 in dual matches, all of which have been at the No. 1 line. He became the first Longhorn since 2015 to ascend to No. 1 in the ITA singles rankings on Feb. 8 and has maintained that since. Spizzirri is 24-1 against all ranked singles players, including 16-0 against the top-50, and 11-0 versus the top-25. In doubles, he and Harper are 20-13 overall and 15-9 in dual matches, all of those at No. 1, including six top-20 wins. They have registered wins in seven of their last nine matches. At the ITA Indoor Nationals, Spizzirri was named the Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles. He also earned all-tournament honors last week at the Big 12 Championship at No. 1 and was named the Big 12 Player of the Week five times this season, which ties his own Big 12 single-season mark from 2021, and a record 10 times for his career.
Bailly missed fall play with an injury, but has returned in the spring to post a 15-7 overall record in singles, including 12-7 in dual matches, primarily at No. 2 where he is 11-5. Bailly has won eight of his last 10 matches, including clinching the Longhorns' last two wins, first against No. 3 TCU to secure the Big 12 regular season championship, and then versus Oklahoma in the semifinals of the conference tournament. In doubles, Bailly has paired with Woldeab in every dual match, compiling a 12-7 record with all but one of those wins coming at No. 2, while the other was at No. 3. They have also won six of their last nine decisions.
In singles, Woldeab is 26-10 overall and 15-7 in dual matches this year, including a 6-1 record at No. 3, and an 8-6 mark at No. 4. He is 4-2 against ranked players in dual match play. Arimilli emerged midway through the dual match season as a regular in the singles lineup where he has posted a 10-3 record, including 3-1 at No. 5 and 7-2 at No. 6. Meanwhile, Huang and McDonald combined late in the year to register a 4-0 record at No. 3 doubles with three of those wins in Big 12 play.
The Longhorns are awaiting an anticipated hosting of an NCAA Tournament Regional from May 5-7. They will learn that and their seeding during the NCAA selection show, which will be streamed on NCAA.com on Monday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m. CT.
2023 Texas Big 12 Postseason Awards
Player of the Year
Eliot Spizzirri
All-Big 12 Team
First-Team All-Big 12
Eliot Spizzirri, Singles
Pierre-Yves Bailly, Singles
Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri, Doubles
Second-Team All-Big 12
Siem Woldeab, Singles
Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly, Doubles
Individual Champions
Eliot Spizzirri – No. 1 Singles
Pierre-Yves Bailly – Nos. 2 Singles
Siem Woldeab – Co-No. 3 Singles
Nevin Arimilli – Co-No. 5 Singles
Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri – No. 1 Doubles
Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald – No. 3 Doubles
