COLUMBUS, GA – The Peach Belt Conference has released the 2022 men’s tennis All-Conference team. Columbus State’s Alvaro Regalado was named the PBC Player of the Year for the second year in a row while Georgia College’s Karol Malirz was named the Freshman of the Year and Flagler’s Jonas Piibor the Coach of the Year.
Alvardo adds to his nearly unprecedented list of accolades. The senior becomes the sixth player in league history to earn the Player of the Year award twice, the fifth to do so in back-to-back seasons. The 2021 ITA Senior Player of the Year and All-American is the #1-ranked player in NCAA Division II in 2022, a spot he has held in every poll this season. From Alicante, Spain, he is 15-1 in singles play this season with a 7-1 mark against nationally-ranked opponents and 6-0 against PBC players. He is also ranked #4 in the nation in doubles with partner Javier Cueto Ramos. Regalado keeps the PBC Player of the Year award in Columbus for a fourth straight season as the third different Cougar to win the award.
Malirz has been a key part of Georgia College’s lineup in his first collegiate season. The freshman from Marbella, Spain, jumped into the #1 singles spot for the Bobcats, playing a schedule in which nine of their 14 matches were against nationally-ranked opponents. Malirz was 6-7 overall in singles play, picking up wins over #5 Valdosta State, #21 Augusta and #67 Young Harris during the season. He becomes the fourth Bobcat to be named the PBC Freshman of the Year, the first since Pedro Ecenarro Del Rio in 2015.
In his first season as Flagler’s head coach, Jonas Piibor guided the Saints to their first-ever PBC regular-season championship. Flagler defeated #1 Columbus State on April 19, ending CSU’s 36-match conference winning streak. Flagler is the #1 seed in the PBC Tournament for the first time, entering tournament play with seven wins in a row and 12 of their last 13. Ranked #13 at the time of this release, Flagler is 5-3 against nationally-ranked opponents, including five in a row heading into the postseason. Piibor earns his first Coach of the Year honor and becomes the second Flagler coach to claim the honor after Walter Shinn in 2011.
The men’s All-Conference team is listed below, as selected by the league’s head coaches. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
2022 PBC Men’s Tennis
All-Conference Team
First Team
Singles
Joaquin Benoit, North Georgia
Ryan Gaskin, North Georgia
Javier Cueto Ramos, Columbus State
Alvaro Regalado, Columbus State
Tommaso Schold, Columbus State
Nikita Tatyanin, Flagler
Doubles
Javier Cueto Ramos & Alvaro Regalado, Columbus State
Pietro Martinetti & Tommaso Schold, Columbus State
Oscar Del Granado & Philipp Lemken, Flagler
Second Team
Singles
Petr Cervinka, Flagler
Oscar Del Granado, Flagler
Thomas De Negri, Lander
Christian Garay, Columbus State
Karol Malirz, Georgia College
Hugo Regner, Lander
Doubles
Ryan Gaskin & Joaquin Benoit, North Georgia
Markus Sorensen & Matthew De Groot, Lander
Nikita Tatyanin & Jagger Ong-Patzwald, Flagler
Elite 16 Award
Ben Grunert, Georgia College
Freshman of the Year
Karol Malirz, Georgia College
Player of the Year
Alvaro Regalado, Columbus State
Coach of the Year
Jonas Piibor, Flagler