FLUSHING, NY--- (www.YORKATHLETICS.com) York College men's tennis received two distinctions Wednesday, as the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) announced its 2023 end of the year awards.

In his first season with the Cardinals, Branislav Grujic worked with a group of first-time tennis players to develop a promising future for the York program.  Grujic is York's first Men's Tennis Coach of the Year since Greg Jackson in 2010. 

A masterpiece in development, Grujic inherited a team of newcomers, as well as a program that has not participated since the 2019 season. In a short time, York has developed into a team that competes and challenges its opponents. The Cardinals showcased their improvements in their third match of the season, earning wins against Lehman College (Mar. 24) at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles, the most since taking two points from Lehman on April 13, 2019. York came narrowly close to its first victory since triumphing over St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) on April 21, 2018, falling 5-4 against Saint Elizabeth University (Apr. 7) from a super tiebreaker. Grujic constructed a roster of walk-ons who have progressed throughout the season, as their 10 points over the course of the campaign is double the amount won in 2019.

"I would like to thank my assistant Kathleen and my team"my sons" as I call them. Without their dedication and hard work this would not have happened. Our Men started from zero, absolute beginners, and we came to the point where they won matches and developed lifetime friendships. This is just the beginning.  We will continue to grow our program and our team will be stronger and stronger."-stated Grujic

Hailing from Queens, Jagvir Hoonjan earned the program's first CUNYAC Sportsmanship Award honoree since Felix Liew in 2018. 

"It is an honor to win this award and be recognized by everyone for this. I want to thank my teammates and my coaches, I could not have done it without them."-said Hoonjan 

Debuting for the Cardinals this season, Hoonjan took on the challenge of playing No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles. On the No. 2 singles court, he claimed his first set on April 7 against Saint Elizabeth, 7-6. Across nine matchdays, Hoonjan played in nine doubles contests and seven singles affairs.  

"Jagvir is respectful to his opponents and their teammates on and off the court.  He encourages his fellow teammates and has tremendous team spirit. As a responsible student-athlete, Jagvir is the type of teammate who would go above and beyond to make sure he is available for his team." noted Grujic.

2023 CUNYAC Men's Tennis All-Star Awards

• Player of the Year: Christopher Tham (Baruch)
• Rookie of the Year: Craig Pazarecki (Brooklyn)
• Coach of the Year: Bransilav Grujic (York)
• Sportsmanship Award: Jagvir Hoonjan (York)
• Sportsmanship Team: Jim Bauer (Baruch), Auymen Kuc (Brooklyn), John Devakanmalai (Hunter), Richi Magaribi (Lehman), Terrell Rowe (John Jay)

First Team

• Christopher Tham (Baruch)
• Craig Pazarecki (Brooklyn)
• Juan Paredes (Baruch)
• Ryan Sham (Brooklyn)
• Chris Popovic (Hunter)
• Jairo Molina Baquero (Hunter)
• Jim Bauer (Baruch)

Second Team

• Hamad Alobeidilli (John Jay)
• Mujibur Shaad (Brooklyn)
• Nicholas Santiago (Baruch)
• Anil Singh, (Hunter)
• Christian Agudo (Lehman)

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