CHARLOTTE – The Big South Conference announced today that former UNC Asheville men’s tennis player Henry Patten (2016-2019) along with current Bulldog Oli Nolan (2018-present) were named to the 2010-19 Men’s Tennis All-Decade Team presented by Hercules Tires.
Patten had plenty of success during his time with the Bulldogs. He was the Big South Conference Player of the Year in three of his four seasons. He is one of two Bulldogs to win three Player of the Year Awards in any sport in UNC Asheville history. Additionally, Patten is one of just four in Big South men’s tennis history to win Player of the Year three or more times. As a singles player, Patten was a four-time All-Big South player and posted a 60-9 record in singles during the spring season in his four years with the Bulldogs.
In addition to his work as a singles competitor, Patten, along with Oli Nolan landed spots on the All-Decade Team for their work as a doubles pairing. The tandem earned NCAA Division I All-American honors in doubles from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in 2019. Nolan and Patten secured a national championship victory at the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships. The duo was ranked number one nationally for three consecutive polls by the Oracle Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings before dropping to No. 2 for much of the spring. Nolan and Patten participated in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Doubles Championships as a No. 4 seed. The duo ended the regular season ranked No. 4 nationally in the Oracle ITA rankings and earned Big South First Team All-Conference honors in doubles.
A 15-person committee of Big South Conference administrators served as the official voting panel to determine the All-Decade Team, with fan voting comprising 20 percent of the overall total. The 2010-19 Men’s Tennis All-Decade Team is listed below in alphabetical order and features eight singles players, eight doubles players and one head coach. In case of ties, additional honorees have been added.
2010-19 MEN’S TENNIS ALL-DECADE TEAM PRESENTED BY HERCULES TIRES
Singles – Name, School Notables
Amadeo Blasco, Longwood 3-time All-Conference
Sam Matheson, Liberty Player of the Year, 3-time All-Conference
Grayson Mills, Presbyterian Player of the Year, 3-time All-Conference
Henry Patten, UNC Asheville 3-time Player of the Year, 4-time All-Conference
Diego Quiroz, Winthrop 4-time All-Conference
Ivan Salec, Radford 4-time All-Conference
Nicholas Sayer, Radford Player of the Year, 3-time All-Conference
Maximilian Scholl, Gardner-Webb 4-time All-Conference
Doubles – Name, School Notables
Sergey Belov, Winthrop Player of the Year, 2-time All-Conference
Amadeo Blasco, Longwood 3-time All-Conference
Thomas Dehaen, Radford 3-time All-Conference
Oli Nolan, UNC Asheville All-American, 2019 All-Conference
Henry Patten, UNC Asheville All-American, 4-time All-Conference
Ivan Salec, Radford 4-time All-Conference
Maximilian Scholl, Gardner-Webb 3-time All-Conference
Evgeny Slesarev, Gardner-Webb Player of the Year, 2-time All-Conference
Dustin Werner, Campbell 3-time All-Conference
Head Coach, School Notables
Chris Powers, Coastal Carolina 2 Championships, 2-NCAA Tournaments, 2-time Coach of the Year, 39-11 Big South record, 100-48 overall
Men’s Tennis All-Decade Team candidates were determined based on being at least one of the following: 1) Was a multiple All-Conference honoree in singles and/or doubles; 2) Was named an All-American; 3) Is a member of the Big South Conference Hall of Fame; 4) Student-athletes must be a college graduate or in good academic standing with their respective institution; 5) Won a Conference Championship as a coach and/or was voted Conference Coach of the Year. Candidates that participated in two different decades were placed in a specific decade based on consultation from member institutions. Member institutions also had final determination in regards to inclusion of student-athletes and coaches. Previous Men’s Tennis All-Decade Teams were recognized for the years 1985-89, 1990-99, and 2000-09.
