EAST GREENSBORO – The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) released its men's tennis postseason honors on Friday. The list included three North Carolina A&T Aggies, further indicating the growth the program has experienced over the past two seasons.
Senior Esteban Lopez headlined the A&T accolades on Friday, earning second-team All-CAA in singles and doubles. Lopez came alongside his doubles partner, graduate Vasil Ivanov, to claim second-team All-CAA doubles honors. Sophomore Eder Blanco rounded out the Aggies' postseason recognitions by being recognized as a third-team All-CAA singles player.
The trio helped the Aggies finish the season 16-3 overall, including a 4-3 CAA win over the Delaware Blue Hens. The two CAA losses the Aggies endured came against eventual CAA champion UNC Wilmington and runner-up Elon.
"It was a great season for the team," said Lopez, who has a 31-23 career singles record. "I obviously want to thank (head coach Dejon Bivens) for all the effort he puts in for us. The honor is great, but we will keep going as a team. I've got to keep going as an individual, and we're going for more."
Lopez went 11-7 overall, including wins over UNC Asheville's Sam Nicholson, UNC Greensboro's John Gabelic and Delaware's Luis Molina, a third-team All-CAA player. Lopez played all 18 singles matches as the Aggies No. 1 player. He posted a 10-7 record in doubles play, with 16 of those 17 matches played with Ivanov.
The Ivanov/Lopez duo went 9-7, securing wins over Queens University of Charlotte's No. 1 team, UNCG's No. 1 team and Longwood's. Their most impressive win of the season came against the No. 1 doubles team from Elon, Oskar Antinheimo and Veljko Krstic.
Even though he was not recognized for his singles play, Ivanov had a great season to end his legendary career at A&T. Ivanov went 14-2 in singles, and at one point during the season, he won 10 straight matches. He finished his career with a 47-27 record, including a 22-3 mark over his final 25 matches. Lopez and Ivanov earned first-team All-Big South honors last season as a doubles team and as individuals.
"These awards reflect the hard work we have put in throughout the year," said Ivanov. "The guys deserve it, and I hope this motivates them and the others to keep pushing forward and striving for success."
A prosperous future lies ahead for Blanco. He led the team in wins with a 15-2 record. He went 13-2 as the Aggies No. 2 singles player and 2-0 as their No. 3 singles player. Blanco ended the season on a nine-match winning streak. He dominated opponents at the No. 2 spot, with 11 of his 13 wins coming in straight sets.
Blanco beat first-team All-CAA performer Nicholas Campbell of Elon, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). His match against UNCW's Gabe Hurtado, a second-team All-CAA performer, went unfinished, with Blanco leading 4-2 in the second set after losing the first set 6-3. He also beat Delaware's William Wibmer, a third-team All-CAA standout, 6-4, 6-2. In his two years at A&T, Blanco is 29-7 in singles play.
"I'm extremely grateful to be a part of that team and happy with what I've worked on this year," said Blanco. "The results of my hard work provided me with success on the court in terms of my matches, and outside the court in terms of my studies, and trying my best to adapt to my classes to obtain the highest grades possible."
