Bryan Shelton Named SEC Coach of the Year, Ben Shelton Claims SEC Player of the Year
Friday, April 29, 2022 | Men's Tennis
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After completing an SEC sweep by winning the regular season and conference tournament titles, the Florida men's tennis team had six Gators bring home conference honors, the league office announced on Friday afternoon.
Head Coach Bryan Shelton won his well-deserved fourth SEC Coach of the Year honor, while sophomore Ben Shelton claimed the SEC Player of the Year award. Shelton and Sam Riffice were also named First Team All-SEC. In addition, seniors Andy Andrade and Duarte Vale made Second Team All-SEC and Nate Bonetto found himself on the All-Freshman Team.
First-team and second-team All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team, along with Player, Coach and Freshman of the Year were chosen by the league's 13 coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own players and ties are not broken.
Bryan Shelton | SEC Coach of the Year
Head Coach Bryan Shelton was named SEC Coach of the Year after leading the Gators to a 23-2 overall record, an undefeated 12-0 in conference play and 10-0 at home, 19-2 against ranked teams, nine wins against top-10 opponents and a clean sweep of the SEC titles.
After not losing a match to a conference-foe, Shelton joins Bill Potter (1968-69) and Ian Duvenhage (1993-94) to win the SEC Coach of the Year award in back-to-back years. Shelton also has the second most conference COTY titles in Florida history behind Potter, who totals five.
In his 10th season as the Gators head coach, Shelton holds an overall record at Florida of 194-68 (.740) and 90-22 (.804) in SEC play. Leading the team to their third-straight regular season conference title, Florida became the first team since the SEC began awarding the regular season title in 2000, to win three-consecutive conference championships with perfect records. In addition to his four SEC COTY honors (2016, 2019, 2021-22), Shelton was also named ACC Coach of the Year at Georgia Tech four times in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Ben Shelton | SEC Player of the Year | First Team All-SEC
At just 19 years old, Ben Shelton has become the youngest Gator in program history to be named the SEC Player of the Year, joining Mark Merklein (1994), Jeff Morrison (1999), Justin O'Neal (2000), Greg Ouellette (2008) and Diego Hidalgo (2016) as the six players to claim the award.
Also a First Team All-SEC selection, Shelton has had an incredible season. Playing primarily at court one in both singles and doubles, the Gainesville native totals a team-high 30-5 overall singles record, a 19-4 dual singles record, and a 10-2 SEC singles record. In doubles, Shelton pairs with Riffice at court one as they put together a 15-7 dual record to rank No. 6 in the country as a duo.
Holding on to the No. 1 singles ranking since March 9, Shelton has collected a team-high 20 ranked singles wins and nine ranked doubles victories. Named the SEC Player of the Week twice, Shelton recently clinched the Gators' SEC tournament final match against No. 10 Kentucky, pushing his match clinch total to a team-high tying six matches, with five coming against top-10 teams. At the tournament, Shelton compiled a perfect 5-0 record to be named the Tournament MVP with four ranked victories, including a win over No. 8 Liam Draxl (Kentucky) and the No. 25 doubles pair of Adam Walton and Pat Harper (Tennessee), who had not lost to an SEC opponent this year until April 23 in the semifinals.
Going on a 12-match win streak from Feb. 19 to April 3, Shelton made history in becoming the first Gator to win the ITA All-American singles title, where he put together a perfect 12-0 sets record and collected six ranked singles wins. Helping the team to its third-straight SEC regular season championship and first SEC Tournament title since 2016, Shelton has notable wins over Daniel Rodrigues (South Carolina), Adam Walton (Tennessee), Liam Draxl (Kentucky), Chris Rodesch (Virginia) and Hamish Stewart (Georgia).
Sam Riffice | First Team All-SEC
Being named First Team All-SEC for the second year in a row, Co-Captain Sam Riffice has been a key part in the Gators winning their third-straight SEC regular season championship and first SEC Tournament title since 2016. Playing primarily at court two in singles and court one in doubles, the senior has put together an overall record of 19-5 in singles and went a perfect 12-0 in SEC play. The No 26-ranked player's 19 dual match wins is tied for first on the team with Shelton, while he also totals seven ranked singles wins.
In doubles, Riffice pairs with Shelton at court one, where the No. 6 tandem is 15-7 with nine ranked victories. Going 7-3 during conference play, the duo went 3-0 during the SEC Tournament, including handing the Tennessee No. 25-ranked pair of Walton and Harper their first loss to an SEC team this season.
Named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Riffice went on an impressive 14-match win streak in singles from March 4 to April 22. He has notable singles wins against Trey Hilderbrand (UCF), Inaki Montes (Virginia), Philip Henning (Georgia), Emile Hudd (Tennessee) and Gabriel Diallo (Kentucky).
Tallying 93 career singles wins and 73 career doubles wins, Riffice clinched two big matches this year against both No. 6 South Carolina in the regular season and against No. 42 LSU in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. With this All-SEC selection, Riffice has now won a conference award in every season he played as he was named Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-SEC in 2019 and First Team All-SEC in 2021.
Andy Andrade | Second Team All-SEC
Making the Second Team All-SEC team is senior Andy Andrade, who holds the record for the most singles wins in program history with 133. Playing primarily at court four in singles and court two in doubles, the Bradenton, Fla., native holds a 26-8 overall singles record, an 18-4 dual record and a 9-3 SEC record. Currently on an eight-match win streak and ranked 102 by the ITA, his 26 singles wins ranks second on the team, while he also totals six ranked victories.
Paired with Mattias Siimar in doubles at the two spot, the No. 65-ranked duo has been a solid force for the Gators. Going 13-4 at court two, the Gators pairing went an undefeated 11-0 during conference play and collected three ranked victories. Ranking second on the team with 22 doubles wins, Andrade, along with Siimar, have clinched 12 doubles points this season.
At the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, not only did Andrade break the all-time career singles record, but he put together an overall 5-1 record, compiling two ranked wins against then-No. 23 Trent Bryde (Georgia) and then-No. 120 Bar Botzer (Virginia) and a ranked doubles win versus then-No. 50 Trent Bryde/Philip Henning (Georgia). At the ITA Southeast Regional Tournament in the fall, Andrade and Siimar paired up for the first time and made it all the way to the doubles semifinals.
With 133 career singles wins and 66 career doubles wins, Andrade ties for first on the team with six match clinches this season, including the SEC Tournament semifinal match clinch against No. 5 Tennessee. He currently ranks fifth all-time in career overall wins with 199 and first in career singles wins with 133, helping the team win their third-consecutive SEC regular season championships and first SEC Tournament title since 2016.
Duarte Vale | Second Team All-SEC
Earning his second-straight All-SEC award is senior Co-Captain Duarte Vale, who was a key player in helping the Gators win their third-straight SEC regular season title and SEC Tournament championship this season. Playing primarily at court three in both singles and doubles, Vale has put together an overall 16-7 record, a 15-5 dual match record and a 9-2 SEC record in singles, with a big win over No. 72-ranked Hudd of Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals. In doubles, Vale has an overall record of 14-9, a 13-7 dual record and a 6-2 conference record. Earlier in the dual season, Vale paired with Abedallah Shelbayh as the duo defeated then-No. 13 team of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper (Texas) to help the Gators win the doubles point in Austin.
Currently on a six-match win streak in singles and a four-match win streak in doubles, Vale and teammate Nate Bonetto have been a force at court three during conference play and in the SEC Tournament. In the tournament semifinals against No. 5 Tennessee, the duo took down Mark Wallner and Johannus Monday in an exciting 7-6 (8) tiebreak to clinch the doubles point. The two Gators also collected doubles wins in the quarterfinals over LSU and finals against Kentucky.
Ranked No. 110 by the ITA, Vale became one of 11 players in program history to collect his 100th career singles win as he clinched the match against then-No. 1 Tennessee during the regular season. Joining Shelton and Andrade with a team-high six match clinches, Vale hit another historic milestone, also against Tennessee, when he became the fourth Gator in program history to collect his 200th overall career win with a doubles and singles victory over the Vols in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Vale made the All-Tournament team after picking up three doubles wins and a ranked singles win during the SEC Tournament. Lighting up the record book, Vale currently ranks fourth all-time in career overall wins with 201 (109 singles, 92 doubles), seventh in career singles wins with 109 and fifth in career doubles wins with 92.
Nate Bonetto | All-Freshman Team
For the eighth-consecutive season, Florida put a player on the All-Freshman Team as Nate Bonetto became the 13th Gator to make the All-Freshman Team in program history. Playing primarily at court six in singles and court three in doubles, Bonetto ranks third on the team in singles wins and fourth on the team in doubles wins. In singles, Bonetto has a 20-5 overall record, a 7-2 dual match record and is a perfect 4-0 against ranked opponents. In doubles, Bonetto holds a 17-7 overall record, 11-3 dual record and a 6-2 record in conference, while going 11-3 at court three.
Named SEC Freshman of the Week twice and ranked as high as 79th by the ITA this year, the Bend, Ore., native would come up clutch and help the Gators defeat Kentucky during the regular season with a match clinch against JJ Mercer in straight sets.
In the fall, Bonetto tallied two ranked singles wins against then-No. 26 Marcus McDaniel (Georgia Tech) and then-No. 122 Blake Croyder (Georgia) to advance to the singles quarterfinals of the ITA Southeast Regionals, the furthest of any Gator in the tournament. He also has other notable singles wins against Aleksa Bucan (Arkansas) and Teodor Giusca (Clemson). Most recently, both Bonetto and Vale collected three doubles wins in the SEC Tournament, including a huge victory over the Tennessee duo of Wallner and Monday to clinch the doubles point in the semifinals.
UP NEXT: Regional host sites for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Monday, May 2 at 6 p.m. as the NCAA Selection Show airs on NCAA.com.
Here is the complete list of conference awards:
First Team All-SEC
Alexandre Reco, Arkansas
Tyler Stice, Auburn
Sam Riffice, Florida
Ben Shelton, Florida
Philip Henning, Georgia
Hamish Stewart, Georgia
Gabriel Diallo, Kentucky
Liam Draxl, Kentucky
Nikola Slavic, Ole Miss
Florian Broska, Mississippi State
Daniel Rodrigues, South Carolina
Toby Samuel, South Carolina
Johannus Monday, Tennessee
Adam Walton, Tennessee
Noah Schachter, Texas A&M
George Harwell, Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
Filip Planinsek, Alabama
Andy Andrade, Florida
Duarte Vale, Florida
Tristan McCormick, Georgia
Millen Hurrion, Kentucky
Joshua Lapadat, Kentucky
Ronald Hohmann, LSU
Kent Hunter, LSU
Nemanja Malesevic, Mississippi State
Connor Thomson, South Carolina
Emile Hudd, Tennessee
Shunsuke Mitsui, Tennessee
All-Freshman
Enzo Aguiard, Alabama
Filip Planinsek, Alabama
Will Nolan, Auburn
Nate Bonetto, Florida
Shunsuke Mitsui, Tennessee
Luke Casper, Texas A&M
Giulio Perego, Texas A&M
Player of the Year
Ben Shelton, Florida
Freshman of the Year
Filip Planinsek, Alabama
Coach of the Year
Bryan Shelton, Florida
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Head Coach Bryan Shelton won his well-deserved fourth SEC Coach of the Year honor, while sophomore Ben Shelton claimed the SEC Player of the Year award. Shelton and Sam Riffice were also named First Team All-SEC. In addition, seniors Andy Andrade and Duarte Vale made Second Team All-SEC and Nate Bonetto found himself on the All-Freshman Team.
First-team and second-team All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team, along with Player, Coach and Freshman of the Year were chosen by the league's 13 coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own players and ties are not broken.
Bryan Shelton | SEC Coach of the Year
Head Coach Bryan Shelton was named SEC Coach of the Year after leading the Gators to a 23-2 overall record, an undefeated 12-0 in conference play and 10-0 at home, 19-2 against ranked teams, nine wins against top-10 opponents and a clean sweep of the SEC titles.
After not losing a match to a conference-foe, Shelton joins Bill Potter (1968-69) and Ian Duvenhage (1993-94) to win the SEC Coach of the Year award in back-to-back years. Shelton also has the second most conference COTY titles in Florida history behind Potter, who totals five.
In his 10th season as the Gators head coach, Shelton holds an overall record at Florida of 194-68 (.740) and 90-22 (.804) in SEC play. Leading the team to their third-straight regular season conference title, Florida became the first team since the SEC began awarding the regular season title in 2000, to win three-consecutive conference championships with perfect records. In addition to his four SEC COTY honors (2016, 2019, 2021-22), Shelton was also named ACC Coach of the Year at Georgia Tech four times in 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Ben Shelton | SEC Player of the Year | First Team All-SEC
At just 19 years old, Ben Shelton has become the youngest Gator in program history to be named the SEC Player of the Year, joining Mark Merklein (1994), Jeff Morrison (1999), Justin O'Neal (2000), Greg Ouellette (2008) and Diego Hidalgo (2016) as the six players to claim the award.
Also a First Team All-SEC selection, Shelton has had an incredible season. Playing primarily at court one in both singles and doubles, the Gainesville native totals a team-high 30-5 overall singles record, a 19-4 dual singles record, and a 10-2 SEC singles record. In doubles, Shelton pairs with Riffice at court one as they put together a 15-7 dual record to rank No. 6 in the country as a duo.
Holding on to the No. 1 singles ranking since March 9, Shelton has collected a team-high 20 ranked singles wins and nine ranked doubles victories. Named the SEC Player of the Week twice, Shelton recently clinched the Gators' SEC tournament final match against No. 10 Kentucky, pushing his match clinch total to a team-high tying six matches, with five coming against top-10 teams. At the tournament, Shelton compiled a perfect 5-0 record to be named the Tournament MVP with four ranked victories, including a win over No. 8 Liam Draxl (Kentucky) and the No. 25 doubles pair of Adam Walton and Pat Harper (Tennessee), who had not lost to an SEC opponent this year until April 23 in the semifinals.
Going on a 12-match win streak from Feb. 19 to April 3, Shelton made history in becoming the first Gator to win the ITA All-American singles title, where he put together a perfect 12-0 sets record and collected six ranked singles wins. Helping the team to its third-straight SEC regular season championship and first SEC Tournament title since 2016, Shelton has notable wins over Daniel Rodrigues (South Carolina), Adam Walton (Tennessee), Liam Draxl (Kentucky), Chris Rodesch (Virginia) and Hamish Stewart (Georgia).
Sam Riffice | First Team All-SEC
Being named First Team All-SEC for the second year in a row, Co-Captain Sam Riffice has been a key part in the Gators winning their third-straight SEC regular season championship and first SEC Tournament title since 2016. Playing primarily at court two in singles and court one in doubles, the senior has put together an overall record of 19-5 in singles and went a perfect 12-0 in SEC play. The No 26-ranked player's 19 dual match wins is tied for first on the team with Shelton, while he also totals seven ranked singles wins.
In doubles, Riffice pairs with Shelton at court one, where the No. 6 tandem is 15-7 with nine ranked victories. Going 7-3 during conference play, the duo went 3-0 during the SEC Tournament, including handing the Tennessee No. 25-ranked pair of Walton and Harper their first loss to an SEC team this season.
Named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Riffice went on an impressive 14-match win streak in singles from March 4 to April 22. He has notable singles wins against Trey Hilderbrand (UCF), Inaki Montes (Virginia), Philip Henning (Georgia), Emile Hudd (Tennessee) and Gabriel Diallo (Kentucky).
Tallying 93 career singles wins and 73 career doubles wins, Riffice clinched two big matches this year against both No. 6 South Carolina in the regular season and against No. 42 LSU in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. With this All-SEC selection, Riffice has now won a conference award in every season he played as he was named Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-SEC in 2019 and First Team All-SEC in 2021.
Andy Andrade | Second Team All-SEC
Making the Second Team All-SEC team is senior Andy Andrade, who holds the record for the most singles wins in program history with 133. Playing primarily at court four in singles and court two in doubles, the Bradenton, Fla., native holds a 26-8 overall singles record, an 18-4 dual record and a 9-3 SEC record. Currently on an eight-match win streak and ranked 102 by the ITA, his 26 singles wins ranks second on the team, while he also totals six ranked victories.
Paired with Mattias Siimar in doubles at the two spot, the No. 65-ranked duo has been a solid force for the Gators. Going 13-4 at court two, the Gators pairing went an undefeated 11-0 during conference play and collected three ranked victories. Ranking second on the team with 22 doubles wins, Andrade, along with Siimar, have clinched 12 doubles points this season.
At the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, not only did Andrade break the all-time career singles record, but he put together an overall 5-1 record, compiling two ranked wins against then-No. 23 Trent Bryde (Georgia) and then-No. 120 Bar Botzer (Virginia) and a ranked doubles win versus then-No. 50 Trent Bryde/Philip Henning (Georgia). At the ITA Southeast Regional Tournament in the fall, Andrade and Siimar paired up for the first time and made it all the way to the doubles semifinals.
With 133 career singles wins and 66 career doubles wins, Andrade ties for first on the team with six match clinches this season, including the SEC Tournament semifinal match clinch against No. 5 Tennessee. He currently ranks fifth all-time in career overall wins with 199 and first in career singles wins with 133, helping the team win their third-consecutive SEC regular season championships and first SEC Tournament title since 2016.
Duarte Vale | Second Team All-SEC
Earning his second-straight All-SEC award is senior Co-Captain Duarte Vale, who was a key player in helping the Gators win their third-straight SEC regular season title and SEC Tournament championship this season. Playing primarily at court three in both singles and doubles, Vale has put together an overall 16-7 record, a 15-5 dual match record and a 9-2 SEC record in singles, with a big win over No. 72-ranked Hudd of Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals. In doubles, Vale has an overall record of 14-9, a 13-7 dual record and a 6-2 conference record. Earlier in the dual season, Vale paired with Abedallah Shelbayh as the duo defeated then-No. 13 team of Richard Ciamarra and Cleeve Harper (Texas) to help the Gators win the doubles point in Austin.
Currently on a six-match win streak in singles and a four-match win streak in doubles, Vale and teammate Nate Bonetto have been a force at court three during conference play and in the SEC Tournament. In the tournament semifinals against No. 5 Tennessee, the duo took down Mark Wallner and Johannus Monday in an exciting 7-6 (8) tiebreak to clinch the doubles point. The two Gators also collected doubles wins in the quarterfinals over LSU and finals against Kentucky.
Ranked No. 110 by the ITA, Vale became one of 11 players in program history to collect his 100th career singles win as he clinched the match against then-No. 1 Tennessee during the regular season. Joining Shelton and Andrade with a team-high six match clinches, Vale hit another historic milestone, also against Tennessee, when he became the fourth Gator in program history to collect his 200th overall career win with a doubles and singles victory over the Vols in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Vale made the All-Tournament team after picking up three doubles wins and a ranked singles win during the SEC Tournament. Lighting up the record book, Vale currently ranks fourth all-time in career overall wins with 201 (109 singles, 92 doubles), seventh in career singles wins with 109 and fifth in career doubles wins with 92.
Nate Bonetto | All-Freshman Team
For the eighth-consecutive season, Florida put a player on the All-Freshman Team as Nate Bonetto became the 13th Gator to make the All-Freshman Team in program history. Playing primarily at court six in singles and court three in doubles, Bonetto ranks third on the team in singles wins and fourth on the team in doubles wins. In singles, Bonetto has a 20-5 overall record, a 7-2 dual match record and is a perfect 4-0 against ranked opponents. In doubles, Bonetto holds a 17-7 overall record, 11-3 dual record and a 6-2 record in conference, while going 11-3 at court three.
Named SEC Freshman of the Week twice and ranked as high as 79th by the ITA this year, the Bend, Ore., native would come up clutch and help the Gators defeat Kentucky during the regular season with a match clinch against JJ Mercer in straight sets.
In the fall, Bonetto tallied two ranked singles wins against then-No. 26 Marcus McDaniel (Georgia Tech) and then-No. 122 Blake Croyder (Georgia) to advance to the singles quarterfinals of the ITA Southeast Regionals, the furthest of any Gator in the tournament. He also has other notable singles wins against Aleksa Bucan (Arkansas) and Teodor Giusca (Clemson). Most recently, both Bonetto and Vale collected three doubles wins in the SEC Tournament, including a huge victory over the Tennessee duo of Wallner and Monday to clinch the doubles point in the semifinals.
UP NEXT: Regional host sites for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Monday, May 2 at 6 p.m. as the NCAA Selection Show airs on NCAA.com.
Here is the complete list of conference awards:
First Team All-SEC
Alexandre Reco, Arkansas
Tyler Stice, Auburn
Sam Riffice, Florida
Ben Shelton, Florida
Philip Henning, Georgia
Hamish Stewart, Georgia
Gabriel Diallo, Kentucky
Liam Draxl, Kentucky
Nikola Slavic, Ole Miss
Florian Broska, Mississippi State
Daniel Rodrigues, South Carolina
Toby Samuel, South Carolina
Johannus Monday, Tennessee
Adam Walton, Tennessee
Noah Schachter, Texas A&M
George Harwell, Vanderbilt
Second Team All-SEC
Filip Planinsek, Alabama
Andy Andrade, Florida
Duarte Vale, Florida
Tristan McCormick, Georgia
Millen Hurrion, Kentucky
Joshua Lapadat, Kentucky
Ronald Hohmann, LSU
Kent Hunter, LSU
Nemanja Malesevic, Mississippi State
Connor Thomson, South Carolina
Emile Hudd, Tennessee
Shunsuke Mitsui, Tennessee
All-Freshman
Enzo Aguiard, Alabama
Filip Planinsek, Alabama
Will Nolan, Auburn
Nate Bonetto, Florida
Shunsuke Mitsui, Tennessee
Luke Casper, Texas A&M
Giulio Perego, Texas A&M
Player of the Year
Ben Shelton, Florida
Freshman of the Year
Filip Planinsek, Alabama
Coach of the Year
Bryan Shelton, Florida
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Players Mentioned
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NCAA: Men's Tennis Postmatch 5-13-22
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