MIAMI, Fla.  – The 2022 All-Sun Conference Men's Teams and Superlative Award Winners were announced on Wednesday as voted on by the league's seven head coaches.  
 
Keiser's Luke Simkiss was named this year's Sun Conference Player of the Year. The two-time POY, was named Sun Conference Player of the Week three times this season (seven for his career). Simkiss ended the regular season with a 28-2 overall record and a 6-0 mark in dual meets. All six of his victories came at the No. 1 position as Simkiss led the Seahawks to a 15-4 overall record (6-0 SUN). Simkiss joins teammates Soufiane El Mesbahi, Yassir Kilani, and Geronimo Barrios on this year's all-conference first team. 
 
Arthur Figuiere (Coastal Georgia), Bruno Pessoa (Warner) and Roy Stepanov (Southeastern) were also named first-team all-conference. 
 
SCAD Savannah's Mark Tryakshin was named the Sun Conference Freshman of the Year. The first-year Bee went 7-2 in singles action with a 3-2 record in conference play at the No. 1. The native Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tryakshin ranks in the Top 50 in the NAIA in singles.   
 
The Southeastern pair of Federico Barbon and Stepanov were named the Sun Conference Doubles Team of the Year. The duo posted an overall record of 10-3 and was 2-2 in conference action at the No. 1 doubles position. 
 
Keiser Head Coach Daniel Finn was named the league's Coach of the Year, leading the Seahawks to 15-4 overall record and an undefeated 6-0 mark and the top seed in this year's Sun Conference Men's Tennis Championship. Ranked No. 4 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the Seahawks went undefeated in league action for the seventh-straight season under Finn. This marks Finn's fourth Men's Coach of the Year honor.  
 
Ave Maria's Nicholas Hofmeister was named this year's Sun Conference Champion of Character. Hofmeister has over 62 volunteer service hours with the Mother Teresa Project and Ave Maria University this year. He has helped at Soup Kitchen in Miami, writing Valentine's Day letters for the elderly at a local Nursing Home, gardening plants for the local underprivileged community in Immokalee, and making invitations for a banquet for a pregnancy clinic fundraiser. Nicholas has also volunteer over 15 hours at a local parish Church. Hofmeister is the Engagement Coordinator where he mentored and tutored students struggling with low GPA's and/or personal problems; communicated with and helped incoming students to meet online and connect with each other in the summer before getting to camps, helped them to check in and move in during orientation.  
 
The semifinals of the 2022 Sun Conference Men's Tennis Championship will take place on Thursday, April 28. The semifinals feature the top-seeded Keiser Seahawks versus the No. 21-ranked Coastal Georgia Mariners, and the second-seeded Ave Maria Gyrenes (No. 14 ranked) versus the No. 17-ranked Southeastern Fire. Both matches are slated to begin a 2:30 p.m. from the Marta B. Torrey Tennis Complex in Brunswick, Georgia. 
  
2022 Sun Conference Men's Tennis All-Conference 
 (Listed Alphabetically)
First Team  
 
Geronimo Barrios, SR                         Keiser 
Soufiane El Mesbahi, JR                      Keiser 
Arthur Figuiere, SR                            Coastal Georgia 
Yassir Kilani, FR                                  Keiser 
Bruno Pessoa, SR                               Warner 
Luke Simkiss, SR                                 Keiser 
Roy Stepanov, GS                               Southeastern 

Second Team
 
Federico Barbon, GS                          Southeastern 
Gustavo Cruz, JR                                Ave Maria  
Bart Nouws, SO                                  Keiser 
Fred Oervad                                      Keiser 
Mark Tryakshin, FR                             SCAD Savannah 
Charly Zick, SO                                   Keiser 
 
2022 Sun Conference Men's Tennis Award Winners
 
Player of the Year  
Luke Simkiss, SR, Keiser   
 
Freshman of the Year  
Mark Tryakshin, SCAD Savannah   
 
Doubles Team of the Year 
Federico Barbon, GS / Roy Stepanov, GS, Southeastern 
 
Coach of the Year  
Daniel Finn, Keiser 
  
Champion of Character  
Nicholas Hofmeister, SR, Ave Maria 
 
ABOUT THE SUN CONFERENCE
Now entering its 32nd year, The Sun Conference, a 501c3 organization, continues to be one of the most successful intercollegiate athletic conferences in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Under the guidance of Commissioner Dustin Wilke, the league sponsors championships in 19 NAIA sports: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Flag Football, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field and Women's Volleyball. Learn more @thesunconference.com