SOMERSET, N.J. – Fairleigh Dickinson men's tennis freshman
Mehdi Dhouib swept the Northeast Conference men's tennis awards for Player and Rookie of the Month for the month of October, the conference office announced Tuesday afternoon.
Dhouib, who is from Larchmont, N.Y., closed out his fall season by claiming a pair of singles wins and the "A" flight doubles title along with teammate
Andris Gudins at the Fordham Four-in-the-Fall Tournament. In singles, the freshman defeated Fordham's Finn Kemper, 6-2, 6-4, along with La Salle's Rogelio Gonzalez (6-2, 6-2) before being forced to retire down a set in the final. Dhouib and Gudins won a pair of matches against the Rams and Explorers in doubles before eventually earning the flight championship by beating fellow Knights
Niclas Pietsch and
Eduardo Cabral, 7-5, in the final.
At the ITA Northeast Regional, Dhouib played an impressive match against reigning Big East Co-Player of the Year Alan Nunez Aguilera, but he suffered a close 6-4, 7-5 loss in his singles match.
Dhouib becomes the first Knight freshman to sweep the NEC weekly/monthly awards since Pietsch did so last season. His recognition also marks the first monthly award honor for the Knights since four-time NEC Player of the Year Arvis Bezins earned the awards in both September and October of the 2014-15 season.
The freshman finished the fall season 4-6 in singles play and 5-5 in doubles matches, winning each of his past three doubles contests.
The Knights return to action in the spring when they hope to build off an appearance in the NEC semifinals last season, finishing fourth in the NEC with a 2-3 conference record.
