By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A wealth of NCAA tournament experience, a skilled player and now an assistant coach.
There's no question that Rogerio Ribeiro brings a lot to the table, and now as Tennessee Tech's assistant men's tennis coach, Ribeiro's next task will be to help take the Golden Eagles to the next level.
"I am very excited Rogerio is coming to TTU tennis," said Tech head tennis coach Kenny Doyle. "His playing experience in the NCAA Championships and his knowledge and excitement will bring lots of positive energy to our players.
"He will be a great addition and asset to the program. I know the team is excited to have him with us."
The 24-year-old Ribeiro, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, put together an amazing career while playing at ETSU.
But the NCAA Doubles Tournament run Ribeiro had with partner David Biosca stands as a highlight. Claiming the first victory by an ETSU doubles duo in the NCAA Tournament, the pair defeated New Mexico's Hayden Sabatka and Bart Van Leijsen 6-4 and 6-4, then knocked off the nation's top-ranked pair in Florida's Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson 6-4 and 7-5.
That victory earned All-American nods for the ETSU duo, becoming the third and fourth tennis student-athletes in program history to achieve that honor.
Ribeiro's run continued as the ETSU pair defeated North Carolina's Jack Murray and Brayden Schnurr 6-2 and 7-6 (7) to advance to the tournament semifinals, before falling to Texas A&M's Arthur Rinderknech and Jackson Withrow 6-2, 5-7 and 1-0 (7) to end their run.
Last season, the duo finished 14-7, including a 4-1 record against nationally ranked foes.
Ribeiro was named the 2016 Southern Conference tournament's Most Outstanding Player after going 16-5 in the regular season and a perfect 3-0 mark in the conference tournament – all three victories claiming wins for the Buccaneers.
Ribeiro was also named to the All-SoCon First Team in both singles and doubles.
In 2014-15, Ribeiro won 13 singles matches and had a 12-8 doubles record with Biosca, including a 5-1 mark in the SoCon. He was named to the All-SoCon first team in singles and doubles, as well as named to the Spring Academic All-SoCon list as well as the SoCon Honor Roll.
Ribeiro came off of a medical redshirt in 2013-14, suffering a season-ending injury in the fall tournament season. But he did complete a win over No. 4 ranked Ryan Lipman from Vanderbilt before getting sidelined.
During his sophomore campaign in 2012-13, Ribeiro had a 29-12 singles mark, including an 8-0 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference. He was 16-14 in doubles, 8-0 in the A-Sun. He was named to the A-Sun first team in singles and second team in doubles.
During his freshman season, Ribeiro went 21-9 in singles and 12-8 in doubles, going 8-1 with partner Jesus Bandres. He was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman team, the A-Sun second team in singles and doubles and to the conference's all-academic team.
