Virginia men’s tennis sophomore Ryan Goetz has been named the 2020 ITA Atlantic Region Player to Watch.
The Player to Watch award is given to an individual who has been ranked nationally, is expected to have an outstanding collegiate year next season as one of the top returning regional players and has yet to win one of the ITA or NCAA individual championships.
Goetz won the ITA Atlantic Regional Singles Championship in the fall, downing ODU’s Luca Maldoner in three sets in the final to advance to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. Despite playing a shortened season, he still managed to tally 20 wins in singles for the second-straight year, finishing with a 20-7 record and a 9-3 record in dual matches. Goetz, who played primarily at the No. 2 singles slot, was ranked as high as No. 81 in the ITA Singles Rankings this season.
Goetz is the ninth player in program history to earn this honor, joining Doug Stewart (2005), Somdev Devvarman (2006), Treat Huey (2007), Michael Shabaz (2010), Justin Shane (2012). Ryan Shane (2014), Collin Altamirano (2016) and Carl Soderlund (2019).
The honors are voted on by the regional awards committee.
The national winners of the awards will be announced next Monday, May 25th during a special virtual awards ceremony. The awards ceremony can be viewed on the ITA’s Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts.
Information from Virginia Athletics
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Chris Graham
