SKILLMAN, N.J. - Five student-athletes and three coaches from The American received regional award recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Tuesday.
 
Memphis’ Andrew Watson was named Rookie of the Year for the Ohio Valley region. Watson was Freshman of the Year in The American and an all-conference honoree with a 14-7 singles record.
 
Tulsa’s Alejandro Espejo was tabbed as ITA Senior of the Year for the Central region. Espejo earned all-conference honors in 2015 and helped the Golden Hurricane to an at-large berth in the NCAA Championship.
 
Two players were chosen as the ITA Player to Watch for their respective regions. American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Roberto Cid earned the honor for the Southeast region. Cid has helped lead the Bulls to the Round of 16 in this year’s NCAA Championship, where USF will square off with Baylor this weekend.
 
Tulane’s Dominik Koepfer was tabbed as the ITA Player to Watch for the Southern region. Koepfer was an all-conference selection in 2015 after standing at No. 10 in the ITA rankings.
 
UCF’s Francesc Aulina was named the Most Improved Player of the Year for the Southeast region. The two-time ITA Academic All-American played No. 1 singles this year for the Knights, who won 10 of their last 14 matches to close out the dual schedule in 2015.
 
Three coaches earned ITA honors. Houston head coach Patrick Sullivan was named Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year for Texas, while Memphis’ Chris Doerr and Tulane’s Niall Fitzgerald were tabbed as Assistant Coach of the Year for the Ohio Valley and Southern regions, respectively.