Senior Garrett Reid and Junior Josh Jeremiah Selected As NCCAA All-Americans

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Covenant College's number one doubles duo was selected as first team All-Americans in the NCCAA, the association announced last week.  Senior Garrett Reid and junior captain Josh Jeremiah went 13-7 as a doubles team during the 2010 season, including several wins against some of the nation's top teams.

Click here to watch a short clip of Garrett dominating the competition.*

In addition to their match against the NCAA DII #43 Sailfish of Palm Beach Atlantic, the pair's schedule consisted of 6 first-rate NAIA teams: #10 Union, #11 Shorter, #13 Martin Methodist, #19 Tennessee Wesleyan, #20 Lee, and the once ranked Indiana Wesleyan University (Indiana Wesleyan was ranked #24 through the first two weeks of the year before dropping to the "receiving votes" category for the remainder of the season).

The victories in those matches included an 8-4 win over Michael Yokosuk and Tyler Jeffers of Lee University, a 9-8 win over Fabio Santos and Juan Suarez of Martin Methodist, and an 8-3 win over Micah May and Ben Bischoff of Indiana Wesleyan.

 
Four of the seven losses this year, therefore, came at the hands of ranked teams, while the other three were dealt out by competition far from unranked.  The Division III Birmingham Southern Panthers (11-8) competed against a schedule that included 4 Division I opponents; the Division III Berry College Vikings (6-8) boasted a top 25 NAIA ranking from the end of 2005 until their departure of the NAIA last year; and the Division II North Greenville Crusaders (10-10) finished as this year's runner-up in the NCCAA championship.

 
"I think [this award] is a testament to just how far the tennis program has come in just a few years and the positive influence Coach Smith has had on the team," quoted Reid.  "I know that both Josh and I were much more focused on our singles games before we started to play for Covenant.  Our coach knew just how important wins in the doubles rounds are and really honed us in to that fact, though we really didn't have much of a choice since she had us do countless drills to ingrain the concept.

 
"This award is a testament to how Josh and I have become more ‘well rounded' players since it's for an area of our game that we were not as proficient in prior to coming to Covenant. [...] Not only did we have the chance to play at the national level, but the fact that Josh and I received this award gives me a great sense of accomplishment.  Of course I'd be remiss if I did not give credit to Josh, without his talent and positive personality this award would not have been achieved.  There was hardly a point that he didn't go over the strategy we needed to implement to win the match.  I feel that he accounts for more than just half of this award."

 
Indeed, the award for Jeremiah comes alongside a selection to the first team All-American for singles.  Jeremiah went 12-7 by himself, winning notable matches against Cody Gaby of TN Wesleyan, Marcelo Peterlini of Berry, Hiroki Takagi of King, Matt Pedersen of Indiana Wesleyan, and Timur Kamilov of North Greenville.  Gaby was listed on the AAC All-Conference team, and Takagi, Pedersen, and Kamilov each earned spots as NCCAA All-Americans.

 
"This is the biggest tennis award I've ever received," said Jeremiah.  "I'm surprised I got it, but it's pretty cool since an All-American award is such a big deal."

Click here to watch a clip of Josh dominating the competition.*

Jeremiah will enter his senior season next year having led the squad as the team's number one since he was a freshman.

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