Wilson ITA Coach of the Year
Manuel Raga | Cowley College
Manuel Raga from Cowley College has been named the 2023 Wilson ITA Coach of the Year. Under the direction of Coach Raga, the men’s tennis team has been taken to new heights. This past year, Cowley won the NJCAA Division I National Championship and Coach Raga was named the Coach of the Tournament. Raga helped lead Cowley to a 12-1 record this season, and guided sophmore Takeshi Taco to an ITA Cup Singles Championship and an appearance at the ITA Fall National Championships.
ITA Assistant Coach of the Year
Raf Rovira | Solano College
Raf Rovira from Solano College has been named the 2023 ITA Assistant Coach of the Year. Each year, Raf has consistently been a positive influence on the men and women on the Solano teams. He always has a positive attitude and great energy.
ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship
Will McCullough | Meridian Community College
Will McCullough from Meridian Community College has been named the 2023 ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership Award winner. McCullough has been a big time player and leader for the Meridian Community College Men’s Tennis team over two years. As a freshmen Will had a 25-11 singles record in the #2-4 positions, with big wins over multiple 4 year schools including Harford, Jacksonville, and Wallace State. He had a 19-20 doubles record in the #1-3 positions with big wins over multiple 4 year schools and Jacksonville. This sophomore season, McCullough had a 17-12 singles record all at #3 singles. He improved to be a finalist in singles of our Fall ITA Regional Singles B draw.
ITA Rookie of the Year
Bruno Nhavene | Cowley College
Bruno Nhavene from Cowley College has been named the 2023 ITA Rookie of the Year. This previous season, Nhavene held a singles record of 19-1, losing only to his teammate, Takeshi Taco, who was the No. 1 player in the nation. Nhavene held a doubles record of 21-2. Nhavene won the doubles ITA Regional Championship for Region III and won the ITA Cup in doubles with teammate Boruch Skierkier. He was ranked as high as No. 7 in the nation in singles and as high as No. 1 in the nation in doubles.
ITA Most Improved Sophomore
Julian Bilbao | American River College
Julian Bilbao from American River College has been named the 2023 ITA Most Improved Sophomore. From Bilbao’s freshman to sophomore year, he worked his way up from the last position on the team to playing No. 6 singles. He won the NorCal team title, clinching the match again Foothill College. For the season, Bilbao went 19-11 in singles and 17-9 in doubles. He qualified for Ojai and got to the second round in doubles.
ITA Sophomore Player of the Year
Takeshi Taco | Cowley College
Takeshi Taco from Cowley College has been named the 2023 ITA Sophomore Player of the Year. During his time at Cowley College, Takeshi Taco has won many titles and awards including 2021 and 2022 NJCAA First Team All American Singles, 2022 NJCAA Second Team All American Doubles, and 2022 ITA NJCAA All Star Team. He has been named the Cowley College Athlete of the month multiple times and the Cowley College Male Athlete of the Year in 2022. He was named ITA All American in both 2021 and 2022. He was the NJCAA #1 ranked singles player, the NJCAA National Champion at the #1 singles position in 2022, the NJCAA National Champion at the #2 singles position and the NJCAA National Champion at the #1 doubles position in 2021.
