2012 Men's Tennis Players of the Week

  • Peter Hawkins, Bridgewater, Junior, No. 1 Singles, No. 1/2 Doubles
    April 16, 2012
    Hawkins, a junior from Silver Spring, Md., turned in a stellar week on the courts for the Bridgewater Eagles men’s tennis team as the Silver Spring, Md. native went 3-1 in top flight singles action and notched an identical 3-1 week in doubles play to propel the Eagles to a 4-0 stretch. Hawkins opened the week with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Emory & Henry’s Matt Nelson before claiming a 6-4, 6-1 win over Roanoke’s James Lee. On Saturday, Hawkins dropped a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 1-6 decision to Guilford’s Tyler Mercier before recovering on Sunday to post a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 victory over Virginia Wesleyan’s Brian Luke. In doubles action, Hawkins and teammate Christian Lynn started the week with an 8-4 loss at Emory & Henry before earning a hard-fought 9-8 victory against Roanoke with both matches coming at number two. On Friday at home against Guilford, Hawkins and Lynn notched an 8-6 win before reigning supreme on Sunday against Virginia Wesleyan’s duo at number one by an 8-6 gap. Bridgewater moved into second in the ODAC with the four team wins, improving to 8-1 in conference play.
  • Mederick Ceril, Randolph-Macon, Junior, No. 1 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    April 09, 2012
    Ceril, a junior from France, remained undefeated in conference play, topping James Lee of Roanoke, 6-2, 6-1 Saturday afternoon. Ceril has won 11 consecutive matches dating back to his first match of the season when he fell at Division I George Mason. He now sits at 6-0 in #1 singles action in ODAC play. In No. 1 doubles action, Ceril partnered with Chandler Weston to cruise to an 8-2 win over Lee and Matt Osman. Ceril's wins helped propel the Yellow Jackets to a 6-3 victory over Roanoke College.
  • Ben Nelson, Guilford, Junior, No. 6 Singles, No. 3 Doubles
    April 02, 2012
    Nelson, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., helped the Quakers to three big ODAC wins that catapulted GC to #2 in the conference with a 7-1 record, which marks the most wins for Guilford against conference opponents in program history. Playing out #6 singles and #3 doubles slots, Nelson went a combined 5-1 on the week. He won both matches against Hampden-Sydney with 6-3, 6-0 and 8-4 wins. He did the same against Randolph-Macon, came back for a 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 singles win to go with an 8-3 doubles victory. Against Emory & Henry, Nelson and his teammate fell 8-6 in doubles play, but he recovered for a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 win in singles play that proved to be the deciding point in the order of finish to lock up the Quakers' school-record seventh conference win.
  • Tyler Mercier, Guilford, Sophomore, No. 1 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    March 27, 2012
    Mercier, a sophomore from Bennington, Neb., won twice in Guilford’s match at Averett. He captured his sixth straight win at first singles with a 6-2, 6-1 decision over David Lembke. He then teamed with Clayton Hamilton for an 8-6 win at first doubles, the tandem’s seventh in a row.
  • Hayden White, Washington and Lee, Junior, No. 1 Singles, No. 1/2 Doubles
    March 19, 2012
    White, a junior from Baltimore, Md., helped lead the Generals to a pair of wins over ranked opponents during the week by going 2-0 in both singles and doubles play. In a 5-3 win over 23rd-ranked Case Western Reserve on Saturday, he notched a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles and then teamed with first-year Taylor Shamshiri for an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles. In a 5-4 win over 16th-ranked Mary Washington on Sunday, he logged a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles and then posted an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles with Shamshiri. For the season, White has registered a 13-5 singles record and an 8-5 doubles mark.
  • Matt Nelson, Emory & Henry, Junior, No. 1 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    March 12, 2012
    Nelson, a junior from Galax, Va., went 3-0 at number one singles and 3-0 at number one doubles last week. He picked up a three-set victory over John Carroll on Tuesday, and won 6-0, 6-1 over Misericordia and 6-3, 6-1 over Regis (Mass.) on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Nelson only dropped three games in three matches at number one doubles along with junior Adam Henderson. The pair won 8-3 over John Carroll and blanked Misericordia and Regis (Mass.). Nelson is a 2011 All-ODAC first team doubles player and was second team at number three singles.
  • Taylor Shamshiri, Washington and Lee, Freshman, No. 1/2 Singles, No. 1/2 Doubles
    March 05, 2012
    Shamshiri, a freshman from Austin, Texax, picks up his second straight weekly honor as he helped the Generals to a 5-0 week in conference play by recording a 4-0 singles record and a 3-1 doubles mark. He notched three wins at No. 2 singles and posted a 6-3, 6-3 win over E&H’s Matt Nelson at No. 1 singles. He also teamed with Hayden White to post two wins at No. 1 doubles and one at No. 2 doubles. The duo fell to Guilford’s Clayton Hamilton and Tyler Mercier at No. 1 doubles. For the season, Shamshiri is 10-7 in singles and 9-7 in doubles.
  • Taylor Shamshiri, Washington and Lee, No. 2 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    February 27, 2012
    Shamshiri, a freshman from Austin, Texax, was the Generals top player of the week against No. 15 Redlands and No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. In singles play, he notched a 7-6 (1), 6-3 win against the Redlands, and then posted a 6-3, 6-4 win over Claremont’s Alex Johnson, the 12th-ranked player in the country. For the year, Shamshiri is 6-7 in singles action and 6-6 in doubles play.
  • Clayton Hamilton, Guilford, Senior, No. 2 Singles, No. 1 Doubles
    February 20, 2012
    Hamilton, a senior from Greensboro, N.C., helped the Quakers to a 2-0 week by winning each of his four matches. Hamilton went 2-0 at No. 2 singles, claiming an 8-3 win over Bluefield and a 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Greensboro. In No. 1 doubles play, Hamilton teamed with Tyler Mercier to post wins of 8-2 (Bluefield) and 8-3 (Greensboro).