George Washington University Athletics
Men's Tennis Announces Yearly Awards
5/23/2019 2:34:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Castille honors three student-athletes with inaugural team accolades
WASHINGTON -Â GW men's tennis coach Rob Castille announced on Thursday the creation of team awards for the program. In his first year leading the program, Castille has named first-year Zicheng Zeng as Team MVP, classmate Ben Barnett as Most Improved and junior Jakub Behun the recipient of the Coach's Award.
Zicheng Zeng // Fr. // Chengdu, China
Zicheng Zeng // Fr. // Chengdu, China
Team MVP
Coach Castille on Zeng: "Zicheng had a very good first year. Playing at the top of the lineup in both singles and doubles is difficult enough, let alone for a first-year. But, Z accepted the challenge and did an outstanding job. The great thing is there are aspects of his game and some intangibles that he can improve upon, so he will only get better. I think he can become one of the best players in the conference, and I am looking forward to him working towards that goal."
Zeng was named a First Team All-Conference performer by the Atlantic 10 after serving as GW's #1 singles and doubles player. He was 5-2 against the A-10 in singles and 5-1 in league play at doubles. In the fall, Zeng won the "A' Flight at Navy Blue Invite and earned Rookie of the Week honors following his first career dual match in February.
Ben Barnett // Fr. // Hobart Australia
Zeng was named a First Team All-Conference performer by the Atlantic 10 after serving as GW's #1 singles and doubles player. He was 5-2 against the A-10 in singles and 5-1 in league play at doubles. In the fall, Zeng won the "A' Flight at Navy Blue Invite and earned Rookie of the Week honors following his first career dual match in February.
Ben Barnett // Fr. // Hobart Australia
Most Improved
Coach Castille on Barnett: "Ben made a lot of strides this year, especially on the mental side. Early on, you often saw Ben's emotions get the best of him. He worked really hard on changing that and did a great job of handling those situations much better. We also saw him improve his doubles play. With his size, he should be a strong doubles player, but came in really raw, not having played a lot doubles previously. He really started to come into his own this spring and formed a solid team at #1 with Zicheng."
Barnett finished his first year as the primary #3 singles player, going 16-16 overall, including 4-4 against A-10 competition, winning his last two meets. One of those wins earned a point in the Colonials' A-10 Tournament victory over St. Bonaventure. He paired with Zeng to go 5-1 against the league in doubles play and 15-13 overall.Â
Barnett finished his first year as the primary #3 singles player, going 16-16 overall, including 4-4 against A-10 competition, winning his last two meets. One of those wins earned a point in the Colonials' A-10 Tournament victory over St. Bonaventure. He paired with Zeng to go 5-1 against the league in doubles play and 15-13 overall.Â
Jakub Behun // Jr. // Bratislava, Slovakia
Coach's Award
Coach Castille on Behun: "Jakub was our Captain this year and for good reason. In my 13 years as a head coach, he is the best leader I have had. He did a great job both on and off the court this year, and with the makeup of the team we had, that was so important. Having such a young squad, we really needed someone to step up and lead by example. And Jakub did that on a daily basis. There isn't anyone better that the other team members could be learning from and when it is time for some of them to become Captain, I know they will be ready because of Jakub. He is a great representative of our program and George Washington University."
The Coach's Award is given to the player that most exemplifies the character and values of GW and the men's tennis program. This individual shows great leadership both on and off the court. Behun served as team captain for the young squad and battled injuries, missing the beginning of the spring season. He returned for the final five dual matches and was slotted into the #4 singles position. Overall, he held an 8-8 singles mark on the year and made his mark by going 3-1 at #2 doubles.
The Coach's Award is given to the player that most exemplifies the character and values of GW and the men's tennis program. This individual shows great leadership both on and off the court. Behun served as team captain for the young squad and battled injuries, missing the beginning of the spring season. He returned for the final five dual matches and was slotted into the #4 singles position. Overall, he held an 8-8 singles mark on the year and made his mark by going 3-1 at #2 doubles.
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