DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's tennis team had six All-Conference selections and took home three of the four special awards, according to the All-Sun Conference tennis awards, which were presented at the conference tournament banquet at the Sunset Harbor Yacht club on Thursday evening.

Headlining the list of honorees was freshman Deni Zmak who garnered the league's Player of the Year honors. Zmak has made an immediate impact on the Eagle lineup in his first season with the Blue and Gold earning a 17-1 record, including a perfect 16-0 ledger against NAIA opponents, playing the majority of his matches at the Eagles' No. 1 position. A native of, Pula, Croatia, Zmak is currently ranked third in the nation in singles and is part of the nation's No. 1 doubles team in tandem with senior Chris Freeman.

Freeman, junior Simon Felix and freshman Anthony Grasso joined Zmak on the All-Conference first team, while senior David Spennare and freshman Miguel Lopez-Gomez garnered second team honors. Freeman appeared on the All-Conference roster for the third time in his three-year career. Ranked 13th nationally, he brings a 19-5 record into this weekend's conference tournament.

Felix is also making his third appearance on the conference listing. He is 20-4 on the year and is one of only three Eagle players with a perfect 6-0 mark in conference play. He also owns a 25-3 doubles record, including a 17-1 record with Kevin Chaouat as his partner.

Grasso is also in his first season with the Eagles and has worked his way into the No. 3 spot in the Eagles' lineup. Like Felix, he is 6-0 in league play and is 14-4 overall, which has afforded him a No. 23 national singles ranking.


Now in his final season with the Eagles, Spennare was named to the second team for the third time in as many years. Anchoring the No. 6 spot in the lineup, Spennare was 6-0 in conference matches and leads the team with a 22-2 overall ledger.

Lopez-Gomez is also in his first semester with ERAU tennis. He has seen the majority of his action at the No. 5 singles position, boasting a 14-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the conference.

The Eagles also had a number of individuals recognized for their successes in the classroom as Freeman, Felix, Spennare, Patrick Besch, J.R. Leonik and Jose Suger Saravia garnered Academic All-Conference recognition. To qualify for Academic All-Conference honors, a student-athlete must have completed at least two full semesters at the nominating institution and carry a 3.5 or better cumulative grade point average.

 Spennare (3.933 GPA) and Besch (3.70 GPA) are both Business Administration majors, while Freeman (3.759 GPA), Leonik (3.511 GPA) and Suger Saravia (3.613 GPA) are all majoring in Aeronautical Science. Felix is an Air Traffic Management major with a 3.782 GPA.

The Eagles are the top seed in the six-team conference tournament and will have a bye in the first round, which gets underway on Friday morning. They will begin defense of their conference tournament crown at 2 p.m. on Saturday against the winner of Friday's match between Webber International and St. Thomas.

The tournament is being hosted by Embry-Riddle at the Crotty Tennis Complex and the tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship in Mobile, Ala., May 14-18.