April 15, 2004

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Thursday the All-Conference honorees for the 2004 men's tennis season.

North Carolina's Sam Paul was honored as the ACC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his 11-year career. Paul led his team to an overall record of 21-3 and a share of the ACC regular season title with a 7-1 mark. In 11 seasons at the helm of the Tar Heel men's tennis team, he has posted an overall record of 170-93 while going 63-24 in ACC dual match play. Paul now ranks fifth in conference history in career league wins. He has now led the Tar Heels to a top three finish in the ACC in nine of the 11 years as UNC head coach.

"This honor is really about my senior captains -- Nick Monroe, Andy Metzler and Ben Aiken -- as well as all the players on this team and my assistant Coach Don Johnson," said Coach Paul. "They all deserve this award much more than I do."

The defending ACC champion Duke Blue Devils led all teams with five players on this season's All-Conference team. The North Carolina Tar Heels, co-regular season champions, placed four on the team, while the Clemson Tigers, Florida State Seminoles and Virginia Cavaliers, co-regular season champions, each had two student-athletes selected. Georgia Tech, NC State and Wake Forest rounded out the All-Conference team with one selection apiece.

The North Carolina All-ACC players include senior Nick Monroe of Olathe, Kan., junior Geoff Boyd of Atlanta, Ga., junior Jonathan Janda of Shelby, N.C., and sophomore Raian Luchici of Timisoara, Romania.

Florida State's Mat Cloer was selected as the ACC Men's Tennis Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. He now becomes just the third player in ACC history to garner Player of the Year honors in consecutive seasons. Cloer, ranked 18th nationally in singles by the ITA, has compiled an overall record of 20-11, 14-7 in dual match play and a 6-2 conference mark at the No. 1 singles position. He became just the fourth player in FSU history to post back-to-back 20 win seasons. The Brevard, N.C. native posted nine victories against ranked opponents in 2004, including three over top 15 players.

Wake Forest's Todd Paul was tabbed as the ACC Men's Tennis Freshman of the Year in 2004. It is the second time in conference history that a Demon Deacon has received this award and second time in the past three years. Paul leads all Wake Forest players with 28 overall singles victories this season, while compiling a 15-5 mark in dual match play at the No.1, 2 and 3 singles flights. The Stamford, Conn., native also ranks third on the team with 17 total doubles victories, including five in ACC play.

2004 ACC All-Conference Men's Tennis Team

Geoff Boyd................................. North Carolina

Christopher Brown.................................... Duke

Mat Cloer..................................... Florida State

Jonathan Janda........................... North Carolina

Jarmaine Jenkins................................. Clemson

Phillip King............................................. Duke

Raian Luchici............................. North Carolina

Nick Monroe.............................. North Carolina

Rylan Rizza......................................... Virginia

Scott Schnugg............................... Georgia Tech

Derrick Spice................................. Wake Forest

Doug Stewart....................................... Virginia

Jonathan Stokke....................................... Duke

Jonathas Sucupira......................... Florida State

Conor Taylor....................................... NC State

Nathan Thompson............................... Clemson

Ludovic Walter......................................... Duke

Jason Zimmermann.................................. Duke