Four Nighthawks Headline PBC All-Conference Honors, Benoit Named Co-Player Of The Year
DAHLONEGA – The Peach Belt Conference announced the 2024 Men's Tennis All-Conference Teams Thursday afternoon. A number of Nighthawks were honored with all-conference selections this season after the team finished in third place during the regular season.
Senior Joaquin Benoit led the way for UNG as he was named to the PBC All-Conference First Team for Singles. In singles play this year, Benoit holds a 12-2 record this year which includes a 2-1 mark against nationally ranked opponents. On Apr. 15, Benoit took down the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's No. 3 ranked singles player in Alex Benichou Blanchard with an easy 6-2, 6-2 win to help the Nighthawks defeat No. 17 Mississippi College.
Benoit also collected another all-conference honor as he and junior teammate Robin Eldin were named to the PBC All-Conference First Team for Doubles. The dynamic duo is 11-2 this season and 1-1 in ranked play after beating the ITA No. 17 doubles team from Flagler.
While Benoit has racked up the conference accolades in his career, this comes as the first for Eldin who was also named PBC Men's Tennis Player of the Week back in February.
However, Benoit did not stop at doubles when receiving the conference honors. The senior from Mar del Plata, Argentina was named PBC Co-Player of the Year presented by College Ave. Student Loans, joined by Flagler's Baptiste Mercier.
Senior Giulio Sassi also earned his first career PBC postseason awards. The Mendrisio, Switzerland native was named to the PBC All-Conference Second Team for Singles. Sassi went 10-8 in singles this year after primarily playing in the #2 singles spot while rotating up to the #1 singles match three times. He picked up a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 ranked win over ITA men's singles No. 22 Sebastian Rondon back in March.
Christopher Cahour was also recognized with all-conference acclaim for his efforts in the classroom. He was given The Elite 18 Award presented by Barnes & Noble College. The Elite 18 Award is presented at each of the PBC's 18 championships to the competing student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA.
The quartet of Nighthawks have been dominant all season long in helping the team to a strong regular season. Now, they'll head to Columbus, Ga. to compete for a PBC Championship in the PBC Men's Tennis Tournament. UNG will face sixth-seeded Georgia College in the first round of the event on Friday, Apr. 26 at 3 p.m.
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