IRVING, Texas – UCF junior Gabriel Decamps, who led the Knights to their first American Athletic Conference title, and Wichita State’s Murkel Dellien, who closed the regular season with 12 consecutive singles wins, have been chosen as The American’s 2021 Men’s Tennis Players of the Year by the league’s head coaches.
SMU’s Liam Krall, who led the Mustangs with 16 singles in his first season, was named as The American’s Freshman of the Year. UCF head coach John Roddick was chosen by his counterparts as The American Coach of the Year.
A native of Sao Paolo, Brazil, Decamps earned Player of the Year honors after he finished the regular season ranked No. 9 in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings, claimed The American’s automatic entrant into the NCAA Singles Championships, earning a top-16 seed, and helped the Knights clinch The American’s automatic bid to the NCAA team championship, where UCF will be the No. 9 national seed. Decamps takes a 16-4 record into the NCAA tournament, including an 8-3 mark against nationally ranked opponents.
Dellien who hails from Trinidad, Bolivia, earned Player of the Year honors on the strength of a 13-2 record singles record, including victories against players ranked No. 4 and No. 29 nationally. Ranked No. 39 on the latest Oracle/ITA chart, Dellien went 5-0 against ranked opponents in 2021 and was an at-large pick for the NCAA Singles Championships, becoming Wichita State’s first selection since 2016. He also helped Wichita State to an at-large selection to the NCAA team championships as the Shockers make their first postseason appearance since 2016.
Krall, a native of Bronxville, New York, took Freshman of the Year honors after stepped into the top half of the Mustangs’ lineup and compiled a 16-9 singles record, playing exclusively at the top three positions. He helped SMU reach the semifinal round of The American Championship and led the Mustangs to a No. 46 national ranking as of May 5.
Roddick was chosen as American Coach of the Year after he led the Knights to their first American Athletic Conference title and had UCF ranked in the national top 10 for much of the 2021 season, including a No. 10 ranking entering the NCAA tournament. The Knights take a 21-3 record into the NCAA tournament, including an active 13-match winning streak and 12 wins against nationally ranked opponents. Roddick earns American Coach of the Year honors for the first time and was a four-time Big 12 Coach of the Year and the 2014 ITA National Coach of the Year at Oklahoma before joining the Knights in 2016.
Decamps and Dellien were both named to The American’s all-conference team in single and doubles. Decamps is a repeat selection from 2019 in singles, while the tandem of Dellien and Marius Frosa from Wichita State was one of three repeat selections in doubles, joining Trey Hilderbrand/Bogdan Pavel from UCF and David Stevenson/Oscar Cutting from Memphis.
2021 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS POSTSEASON HONORS
Players of the Year
Gabriel Decamps, Jr., UCF
Murkel Dellien, Sr., Wichita State
Freshman of the Year
Liam Krall, SMU
Coach of the Year
John Roddick, UCF
All-Conference Team
Singles
Gabriel Decamps, Jr., UCF
Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi, So., UCF
David Stevenson, So, Memphis
James Story, RFr., Memphis
Chase Ferguson, So., USF
Jakub Wojcik, Sr., USF
Hamish Stewart, Sr., Tulane
Kody Pearson, Jr., Tulsa
Murkel Dellien, Sr., Wichita State
Doubles
Gabriel Decamps (Jr.)/Trey Hilderbrand (So.), UCF
Trey Hilderbrand (So.)/Bogdan Pavel (So.), UCF
David Stevenson (So.)/Oscar Cutting (So.), Memphis
Rithvik Bollipalli (Jr.)/Jakub Wojcik (Sr.), USF
Hamish Stewart (Sr.)/Ewan Moore (Gr.), Tulane
Connor DiMarco (So.)/Kody Pearson (Jr.), Tulsa
Marius Frosa (Sr.)/Murkel Dellien (Sr.), Wichita State