NEW YORK -- The BIG EAST Championship announced the 2023 All-Conference Men’s Tennis honors and regular season awards on Wednesday. St. John’s Diogo Marques was unanimously named the BIG EAST Player of the Year, while DePaul’s Aleksa Krivokapic was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Creighton and St. John’s share Coaching Staff of the Year accolades.
For the first time in conference history, the entirety of the All-BIG EAST First Team was selected unanimously. Three members of the Second Team earned unanimous recognition as well.
Playing the entirety of the season at No. 1 singles and doubles for the BIG EAST Champion Red Storm, Diogo Marques is the 2023 BIG EAST Player of the Year. Marques owned a 12-3 singles record and 7-3 doubles mark while reaching ITA ranking national highs at No. 113 singles and No. 54 doubles (w/Axel Vila Antuna). He was undefeated in BIG EAST play this year, collecting regular season victories over Georgetown’s Kieran Foster (6-0, 6-1), Villanova’s Josh Robinson (6-2, 6-2), and Marquette’s Stefan Dragovic (6-4, 6-4). Marques garnered BIG EAST Singles Player of the Week accolades three times and was part of the BIG EAST Doubles Team of the Week twice.
Marques was a dominant force at the BIG EAST Championship, earning decisive victories at No. 1 singles and doubles en route to collecting Most Outstanding Player recognition. The graduate student won all three singles matches in straight sets, defeating Marquette’s Stefan Dragovic (6-4, 6-1) in the quarterfinals, Georgetown’s Jake Fellows (6-4, 6-2) in the semis, and Butler’s Thomas Brennan (6-2, 6-3) in the championship. Additionally, Marques and Vila Antuna were victorious over Marquette’s Dragovic and Rami Sheetz (6-1), Georgetown’s Kieran Foster and Zamaan Molendina (6-4) and Butler’s Brennan and Alvaro Huete (6-1).
During his rookie campaign, DePaul’s Aleksa Krivokapic owned a 10-5 overall record, earning four victories at No. 1 singles. He produced notable non-conference victories over #54 Princeton’s Sebastian Sec (6-3, 7-5), #38 Virginia Commonwealth’s Maxence Bertimon (7-5, 0-6, 1-0), and Davidson’s top singles player William Clark (6-0, 6-2). He also captured the match-clinching point against Illinois State and UIC. In BIG EAST play, Krivokapic defeated Butler’s Rahulniket Konakanch (6-4, 6-2), Xavier’s Marco Pennlii (4-6, 6-1, 6-3), and Villanova’s Josh Robinson (7-5, 6-4).
Creighton and St. John’s share BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year recognition following historic seasons. In 2023, Tom Lilly’s Bluejays advanced to the BIG EAST semifinals for the first time in program history just weeks after reaching a historical-high ITA national ranking at No. 64 (3/21). The Bluejays were undefeated (4-0) in regular season BIG EAST play and overcame Villanova, 4-1, to advance to the championship semifinals. Lilly is assisted by graduate student Brady Draheim.
The 2023 BIG EAST Men’s Tennis Champions, St. John’s, are led by Head Coach Dillon Pottish, assistant coach Carlos Maldonado, volunteer assistant Brenden Volk, and student manager Brandon Rolden. Since arriving in Queens in August of 2018, Pottish has led the Red Storm to two BIG EAST titles in four championship final appearances. This season, his squad was undefeated in conference competition, taking down three rivals in the regular season and three at the BIG EAST championship where the Red Storm outscored opponents 12-1.
Ballots were cast by the league’s head coaches. The All-BIG EAST men’s tennis all-conference teams are made up of six at-large selections each. Coaches could not vote for their own players. See below for the full listing.
BIG EAST Men’s Tennis Player of the Year
Diogo Marques, St. John’s^
BIG EAST Men’s Tennis Freshman of the Year
Aleksa Krivokapic, DePaul
BIG EAST Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff of the Year
Creighton & St. John’s
All-BIG EAST First Team
(listed alphabetically)
Thomas Brennan, Butler^
Jake Fellows, Georgetown^
Carl Gustafsson, St. John’s^
Leon Huck, DePaul^
Matthew Lanahan, Creighton^
Diogo Marques, St. John’s^
All-BIG EAST Second Team
(listed alphabetically)
Tighe Brunetti, Villanova
Alejandro Gandini, Creighton
Alvaro Huete, Butler^
Aleksa Krivokapic, DePaul^
Zamaan Moledina, Georgetown
Deacon Thomas, Xavier^
^ denotes unanimous selection