Swansey receives National recognition
Preseason accolades continue to pour in for Tech, and this time, it’s senior guard Zac Swansey garnering high honors from a national media source.
The USA Today named Swansey its Preseason Player of the Year in the Ohio Valley Conference in its college basketball preview publication released earlier this month. The newspaper, which boasts a circulation of 1.8 million, also named senior guard Kevin Murphy a first-team All-OVC selection.
Swansey is the second Golden Eagle to garner attention as a Player of the Year candidate — Murphy drew the honor in official OVC voting and also from CBS Sports and the Sporting News.
“Our offense runs through him and he makes everyone around him better,” head coach Steve Payne said of Swansey. “He’s obviously deserving. He gets the ball where it needs to go for us, and I’m happy to see him receive the recognition.”
Swansey piloted the OVC’s most productive offense a season ago and posted near record-breaking assist numbers. He distributed double-figure assists in six games and ranked seventh in NCAA Division I in assists per game.
He also did his share of scoring, averaging just shy of 10 points per game. Murphy, also a senior guard, was Tech’s leading scorer in 2010-11 and ranked third in the OVC, averaging 17 points per contest. He was an all-OVC first-team selection a season ago.
Murphy was also recently named one of five all-OVC selections by CollegeHoops.net.
Tennis Stuggles in Knoxville
Tech’s men’s tennis team only posted one victory in Saturday’s play in Knoxville.
That victory came from Syrym Abdukhailikov. Abdukhailikov defeated Tennessee’s, Bryan Schwartz, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.
Advancing to the next round, Abdukhailikov faced Kentucky’s Alex Musialek, who is ranked 20th nationally and was the number two seed for the tournament. Musialek defeated Abdukhailikov, 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.
Also participating in Saturdays action were seniors Alex Chen and Justin Kirstein.
Chen lost to Indiana’s Stephen Vogl, 6-2, 6-7. While Chen took a loss to East Tennessee State’s Juan Ramirez 6-2, 6-0.
Sophomore Vasily Eremeev and freshman Ezequiel Gils also competed in Saturday’s action.
Eremeev was handed a 6-2, 6-1, loss from Tennessee’s Mikelis Libietis.
Gils was defeated by Dalton Albertin of Ball State 6-4, 6-2.
