Holton-Burke Named NWC Player of Year,
Three More Whit Men Net Tennis Honors

News Release Date:
Friday, April 15, 2011

2011 NWC Men's Tennis Player of the Year: Whitman's Conor Holton-Burke

 

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Add Conor Holton-Burke to the list of Whitman College tennis aces who have earned Northwest Conference Player of the Year honors during the past decade.

Andrew La Cava

Holton-Burke, a junior, won this spring's top award for men's tennis by amassing the most votes in all-conference balloting earlier this week by NWC coaches.

Joining Holton-Burke on the All-NWC First Team are freshman Andrew La Cava and senior Etienne Moshevich. Sophomore Jeff Tolman was voted to the All-NWC Second Team.

Jeff Northam

Veteran Whitman coach Jeff Northan also was named NWC Coach of the Year for the third time in the past four seasons.

Northam has won the award a total of five times since 2000.

Holton-Burke played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles for Whitman this season, helping fill the void left by last spring's graduation of seven seniors, including two-time Player of the Year Matt Solomon.

Whitman players have now taken Player of the Year honors in seven of the last 11 years.

Holton-Burke was the only player in the NWC to go undefeated this spring at No. 1 singles, posting a 9-0 mark against the rest of the best in the conference.

He also rolled to a 9-1 NWC record in doubles, teaming with La Cava for an 8-1 mark in the No. 1 slot. Their only NWC loss came on the last day of the regular season.

Holton-Burke and La Cava tallied their biggest doubles win of the season in mid-March when they raced to an 8-2 victory over Bobby Cocanaugher and Cory Kowal, a Trinity (Texas) duo that finished second at last year's NCAA Division III national doubles championship.

Etienne Moshevich

With Whitman fielding an especially deep roster in his first two seasons, Holton-Burke saw less court as a freshman and sophomore but still posted combined NWC records of 12-1 in singles and 13-1 in doubles.

La Cava also went undefeated in singles this spring during the NWC season, rolling to a 9-0 record in the No. 2 slot.

Moshevich, playing No. 3 singles for much of the season, earned first-team honors for the second time in three years. He was voted to the All-NWC Second Team a year ago as a junior.

Moshevich, plagued by injury throughout his time at Whitman, has enjoyed his most healthy season as senior, twice winning NWC Student Athlete of the Week honors.

Moshevich scored a number of impressive wins when Whitman, ranked No. 22 in NCAA DIII, played a string of other nationally ranked teams during a Spring Break trip to California.

Moshevich sparked a 5-4 victory over No. 9 Trinity (Texas) by winning his No. 3 singles match and contributing to a doubles win at No. 2.

On the season, Moshevich was 10-2 in singles and 5-0 in conference. He also teamed with Tolman to win all nine of their NWC doubles matches, finishing the spring with a 13-3 record overall.

Tolman, who was voted to the All-NWC First Team a year ago, also enjoyed a strong singles campaign this spring, playing most of his matches at No. 4 and winning seven of eight times against conference foes.

Jeff Tolman

In a Whitman loss to No. 7 Kenyon in March, Tolman secured the only Whitman team point with a three-set victory. He also added a singles victory to Whitman's upset of No. 9 Trinity (Texas) and won another singles match against No. 15 Bowdoin.

In the latest ITA West Region rankings, Holton-Burke and La Cava are No. 7 doubles while Moshevich and Tolman are No. 14.

In the singles rankings, Holton-Burke is No. 19, followed by La Cava at No. 21 and Moshevich at No. 23.

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu