SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – University of Portland men's tennis senior Sema Pankin has been named the West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Year as voted on by the league's head coaches, the WCC announced on Wednesday. Pankin and partner Eleftherios Neos were also named All-WCC First Team in doubles, while Neos garnered second team recognition in singles.

"Tennis is great because it is so objective," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "Awards that are voted on sometimes don't hold a lot of water, but when I found out Sema was voted co-player of the year it made me very proud. Most people don't know the sacrifices he has made over the last five years. I'm really happy the other coaches in the WCC recognized the growth in Sema as much as we did at UP. Almost always the player of the year is the highest ranked player in the conference. This year Sema was the third highest ranked player, yet he was still recognized."

Pankin joins Michail Pervolarakis as the only Pilots to earn WCC Player of the Year honors. Pervolarakis was the league's player of the year for both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He and Pervolarakis are also the only three-time All-WCC First Team honorees in school history.

Pankin now sits alone as the only Portland player to be a four-time, All-WCC singles recipient. He was also a first team selection in 2022 and 2021, while garnering second team honors as a freshman in 2019.

The native of Omsk, Russia will enter this week's WCC Tournament on an eight-match win streak and is ranked No. 101 nationally. He is 23-9 overall this year, 14-5 in dual matches and 7-1 against WCC opposition.

"There are a lot of highly decorated junior tennis players who come into college and predictably make their mark," Gross noted. "Sema was not one of them. He wasn't highly recruited or highly ranked as a junior. I don't think anyone had him pegged as potentially the best player in the conference when he was a freshman. But the guy sacrificed and worked like no other. He will go down as one of the best players to ever come through our program."

Pankin and Neos picked up their second consecutive All-WCC Doubles First Team award. The duo has been dominant in doubles play this year with a 9-5 dual record and 6-2 mark in league play at No. 1 position.

Neos, who also garnered All-WCC Second Team Doubles honors in 2019 alongside Issa Yoshida, received his third straight second team award in singles. His three awards ties him with Pervolarakis and Filip Zivkovic (2008-10) for the second most All-WCC singles citations in program history. Neos has posted an 11-6 dual match record at the No. 2 singles position this season.

"It is awesome that Lefty and Sema received first team doubles recognition once again," Gross said. "They are one of the best doubles teams we've ever had at UP. I count myself lucky to have been with these guys every step of the way. The fact that they had the extra COVID year means that I have probably spent more time on the court with Sema and Lefty than any other players in my 25 years on The Bluff. I will miss our seniors tremendously. I hope our returners pick up that mantle and make these guys and all of our alumni proud by continuing building on the foundation that has been established."

The Pilots (11-9, 5-4 WCC) are the No. 4 seed at this week's West Coast Conference Tennis Championships and will face the No. 5 seed BYU Cougars in the tournament's opening round on Thursday. The match will begin at 1 p.m. at the Aztec Tennis Complex and will have live video and scoring available.

2023 WCC Men's Tennis All-Conference Awards
Coach of the Year - Ryan Keckley, San Diego
Co-Player of the Year – Daniel De Jonge, Pepperdine
Co-Player of the Year - Sema Pankin, Portland
Freshman of the Year - Ollie Tarvet, San Diego
 
Singles All-Conference
First Team
Daniel De Jonge, Pepperdine
Sema Pankin, Portland
Ollie Tarvet, San Diego
Iiro Vasa, San Diego
James Watt, Saint Mary's
Tim Zeitvogel, Pepperdine
 
Second Team
Ran Amar, Pacific
Christian Lerby, Santa Clara
Eleftherios Neos, Portland
Arthur Pantino, LMU
Sasha Trkulja, Gonzaga
Eero Vasa, Pepperdine
 
Honorable Mention
Jack Barnett, BYU
Arthus De La Bassetiere, Gonzaga
Moritz Hoffmann, San Francisco
Maxi Homberg, Pepperdine
Stian Klaassen, San Diego
Arthur Neuhaus, Santa Clara
Sacchitt Sharrma, San Diego
Wally Thayne, BYU
 
Doubles All-Conference
First Team
Daniel De Jonge and Tim Zeitvogel, Pepperdine
Sema Pankin and Eleftherios Neos, Portland
Sacchitt Sharrma and Iiro Vasa, San Diego

Second Team
Jack Barnett and Wally Thayne, BYU
Matthew Hollingworth and Sasha Trkulja, Gonzaga
Arthur Neuhaus and Guillaume Dalmasso, Santa Clara

Honorable Mention
Maxi Homberg and Eero Vasa, Pepperdine
Carlos Ramos and James Watt, Saint Mary's
Ollie Tarvet and Stian Klaassen, San Diego
Emin Torlic and Arthur Pantino, LMU
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