The Conference announced the All-Big 12 teams, position champions and individual yearly awards for the 2023 Big 12 tennis season.
Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas shared the men’s awards with the Horned Frogs collecting two of the four yearly honors. UT’s Eliot Spizzirri headlined the awards as Big 12 Player of the Year while OSU’s Isaac Becroft made it back-to-back years that a Cowboy has won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. TCU rounded out the yearly accolades with Sebastian Gorzny collecting Freshman of the Year and David Roditi earning his second-consecutive Coach of the Year.
On the women’s side, the Longhorns took three of the four yearly awards highlighted by Nicole Khirin becoming the third student-athlete to snag both Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season. Taisiya Pachkaleva garnered the final accolade for Texas with Newcomer of the Year and Iowa State’s Boomer Saia wrapped up the yearly awards with the Women’s Coach of the Year.
Spizzirri finished the season ranked No. 1 in the ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings after first ascending to the top spot on Feb. 8. He finished the regular season 30-4 and 17-1 in dual matches before adding two more wins at the one spot at the Big 12 Tennis Championship. In doubles, the junior finished No. 3 in the ITA rankings with teammate Cleeve Harper with a 4-1 Big 12 record. Spizzirri led the Longhorns to their first outright Big 12 regular-season title since 2019.
Khirin joined BU’s Zuzana Zemenova in 2005 and K-State’s Petra Niedermayerova in 2011 as the only athletes to accomplish this feat. The freshman concluded her inaugural season in Austin with a 13-5 overall record and a 7-2 Big 12 mark at the No. 1 spot.
Gorzny ended the regular season ranked No. 79 with an 18-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark in conference play. The freshman and doubles teammate Pedro Vives finished the year 2-1 in league play together.
Becroft transferred from Mississippi State to win the Newcomer of the Year Award. The junior tallied an 18-8 record in his first season as a Cowboy, including 2-2 in league play, and sits at No. 91 in the rankings.
After two years at Pepperdine University, Pachkaleva transferred to Austin and led the Conference with five wins at the No. 4 spot. Pachkaleva and Nicole Rivkin teamed up to finish 5-2 in league doubles matches.
Roditi led the Horned Frogs to their third men's Big 12 tournament title in history as he oversaw the first program in Conference history to sweep the All-Tournament team doubles positions en route to TCU’s third Big 12 Championship title. The Horned Frogs sit at No. 2 in the national team rankings after finishing the season 22-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
Iowa State’s Boomer Saia wrapped up the yearly awards with the Women’s Coach of the Year. Saia led the Cyclones to the third seed in the Big 12 Championship with a 7-2 record in Big 12 play, both program-bests in the history of the Conference.
Men’s Awards
Men’s Tennis Player of the Year: Eliot Spizzirri, Texas
Men’s Freshman of the Year: Sebastian Gorzny, TCU
Men’s Newcomer of the Year: Isaac Becroft, Oklahoma State
Men’s Coach of the Year: David Roditi, TCU
All-Big 12 First Team Singles
Tadeas Paroulek, Baylor
Jake Fearnley, TCU
Luc Fomba, TCU
Pierre-Yves Bailly, Texas
Eliot Spizzirri, Texas
Olle Wallin, Texas Tech
All-Big 12 First Team Doubles
Tadeas Paroulek/Zsombor Velcz, Baylor
Luc Fomba/Jake Fearnley, TCU
Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper, Texas
All-Big 12 Second Team Singles
Zsombor Velcz, Baylor
Alex Martinez, Oklahoma
Tyler Zink, Oklahoma State
Sander Jong, TCU
Jack Pinnington, TCU
Siem Woldeab, Texas
All-Big 12 Second Team Doubles
Lui Maxted/Sander Jong, TCU
Pedro Vives/Sebastian Gorzny, TCU
Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly, Texas
Individual Season Champions By Position
No. 1 Singles: Eliot Spizzirri, Texas (4-0)
No. 2 Singles: Pierre-Yves Bailly, Texas (4-1)
No. 3 Singles: Siem Woldeab, Texas (3-0)
Siphos Montsi, Oklahoma (3-2)
No. 4 Singles: Sander Jong, TCU (4-0)
No. 5 Singles: Nevin Arimilli, Texas (2-1)
Lorenzo Esquici, Texas Tech (2-2)
No. 6 Singles: Pedro Vives, TCU (3-1)
No. 1 Doubles: Cleeve Harper/Eliot Spizzirri, Texas (4-1)
No. 2 Doubles: Piotr Pawlak/Franco Ribero, Texas Tech (3-1)
No. 3 Doubles: Chih Chi Huang/Evin McDonald, Texas (3-0)
Women’s Awards
Women’s Player of the Year: Nicole Khirin, Texas
Women’s Freshman of the Year: Nicole Khirin, Texas
Women’s Newcomer of the Year: Taisiya Pachkaleva, Texas
Women’s Coach of the Year: Boomer Saia, Iowa State
All-Big 12 First Team Singles
Alina Shcherbinina, Baylor
Ange Oby Kajuru, Iowa State
Malkia Ngounoue, Kansas
Dana Guzman, Oklahoma
Layne Sleeth, Oklahoma
Lucia Peyre, Oklahoma State
Charlotte Chavatipon, Texas
Nicole Khirin, Texas
All-Big 12 First Team Doubles
Carmen Corley/Ivana Corley, Oklahoma
Ayumi Miyamoto/Raquel Gonzalez, Oklahoma State
Charlotte Chavatipon/Sabina Zeynalova, Texas
Xinyi Nong/Ange Oby Kajuru, Iowa State
All-Big 12 Second Team Singles
Miska Kadleckova, Iowa State
Carmen Corley, Oklahoma
Ayumi Miyamoto, Oklahoma State
Mercedes Aristegui, TCU
Tiphanie Lemaitre, TCU
Sabina Zeynalova, Texas
Olivia Peet, Texas Tech
Avelina Sayfetdinova, Texas Tech
All-Big 12 Second Team Doubles
Sofia Cabezas/Miska Kadleckova, Iowa State
Malkia Ngounoue/Heike Janse Van Vuuren, Kansas
Alexandra Pisareva/Layne Sleeth, Oklahoma
Metka Komac/Avelina Sayfetdinova, Texas Tech
All-Freshman Team
Heike Janse Van Vuuren, Kansas
Vanesa Suarez, Kansas State
Julia Garcia Ruiz, Oklahoma
Lucia Peyre, Oklahoma State
Nicole Khirin, Texas
Nicole Rivkin, Texas
Individual Season Champions By Position
No. 1 Singles: Nicole Khirin,Texas (7-2)
No. 2 Singles: Ange Oby Kajuru, Iowa State (6-2)
No. 3 Singles: Sabina Zeynalova, Texas (5-1)
No. 4 Singles: Taisiya Pachkaleva, Texas (5-2)
No. 5 Singles: Sofia Cabezas, Iowa State (5-1)
No. 6 Singles: Nicole Rivkin, Texas (6-2)
No. 1 Doubles: Raquel Gonzalez/Ayumi Miyamoto, Oklahoma State (6-1)
Metka Komac/Avelina Sayfetdinova, Texas Tech (6-1)
Carmen Corley/Ivana Corley, Oklahoma (6-1)
No. 2 Doubles: Ange Oby Kajuru/Xinyi Nong, Iowa State (7-1)
No. 3 Doubles: Sofia Cabezas/Miska Kadleckova, Iowa State (6-2)