Baylor men's tennis senior Max Tchoutakian and sophomores Juan Benitez and Will Little all received All-Big 12 recognition for their 2017 seasons as voted on by the league’s head coaches and announced Thursday.
Benitez and Tchoutakian earned a spot on the All-Big 12 singles second team, while the tandem of Benitez and Little secured first team All-Big 12 doubles honors.
All three of the athletes were selected last week to participate in the individual portion of the NCAA Championships with Benitez and Tchoutakian in the singles draw and the doubles pairing in the doubles tournament.
Benitez is currently ranked No. 15 nationally and owns a 21-8 singles record on the year. He is 16-8 in dual-match action and has gone 10-8 against ranked foes, while playing exclusively at the top of BU’s singles lineup.
Tchoutakian was recognized for the third-straight season as a member of an All-Big 12 singles team. He is currently ranked No. 50 in the country with a 28-8 overall record and a 15-2 mark in dual-match singles action. He boasts a 9-4 mark against ranked opponents and has won four-straight decisions.
As the 22nd-ranked duo in the country, Benitez and Little are 5-4 on the year with all of those matches coming in dual-match play. The tandem owns victories over the country’s then-No. 1 tandem of Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat of Cal and the then-No. 5 duo of Julian Cash and Arjun Kadhe of Oklahoma State. The BU twosome is 3-4 against nationally ranked pairings.
Baylor will open NCAA action in Waco on Friday as the Bears take on fourth-seeded Lamar (17-7) in first round action at 1 p.m. That match is preceded by second-seeded Cornell (21-3) and No. 3 seed Rice (23-7) meeting at 10 a.m. The winners of those two matches will then play on Saturday at 4 p.m.
All-Big 12 Singles First Team:
Cameron Norrie, TCU, Jr.
Alex Rybakov, TCU, So.
Spencer Papa, Oklahoma, Jr.
Julian Cash, Oklahoma State, Jr.
Alex Ghilea, Oklahoma, Sr.
Jolan Cailleau, Texas Tech, Sr.
All-Big 12 Singles Second Team
Max Tchoutakian, Baylor, Sr.
Christian Sigsgaard, Texas, Fr.
Juan Benitez, Baylor, So.
Harrison Scott, Texas, So.
Guillermo Nunez, TCU, Jr.
Andrew Harris, Oklahoma,, Sr.
All-Big 12 Doubles First Team
Cash, Jr. / Kadhe, Sr., Oklahoma State
Curry, Jr. / Thomson, So. Texas Tech
Benitez, So. / Little, So., Baylor
All-Big 12 Doubles Second Team
Nunez, Jr / Rybakov, So, TCU
Norrie, Jr / Johnson, Jr, TCU
Papa, Jr. / Harris, Sr., Oklahoma
