April 19, 2011

ALL-NWC: Barnett Named Sportsman of the Year, Joins Mann as All-Conference HM

NEWBERG, Ore. - Scott Barnett, the No. 1 player for George Fox University, has been named the Northwest Conference Men’s Tennis Sportsman of the Year for 2010-11, and he and teammate Preston Mann have been accorded honorable mention for All-Conference honors as voted on recently by the league’s nine coaches.

Barnett, an academic senior and athletic junior from Jefferson, Ore., provided the upper-class leadership a youthful squad of Bruins needed to finish fifth in the conference this season and come within one win of a berth in the four-team NWC Tournament which determines the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Nationals. He posted a 4-9 record primarily at No. 1 singles, and went 4-10 in doubles, usually at No. 1 and a majority of the time teaming with Mann.

A two-time All-NWC Second Team selection each of the last two seasons, Barnett has a three-year dual match record of 20-27 in singles and 16-32 in doubles in his career. He is the first George Fox men’s tennis player to be named Sportsman of the Year since Tyson Hunter in 2006.

Mann, a freshman from Salem, Ore., posted the Bruins’ best overall record as he went 10-6 in singles, splitting time between the No. 2 and No. 3 positions in the lineup. He tied for the third-best record in the conference at the No. 3 slot with a .667 percentage (4-2). He was 5-11 in doubles, going 3-8 with Barnett at No. 1 and 2-3 with Justin McClain at No. 2.

Barnett and Mann played significant roles as the Bruins went 6-10 overall and 5-7 in the conference, tying for fifth place with Linfield College. The Bruins notched their first victories ever over Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound, and snapped an 18-match losing streak to Linfield.

Conor Holton-Burke of regular-season and NWC Tournament champion Whitman College was named the Player of the Year, while Whitman coach Jeff Northam was voted the Coach of the Year.