St. Joe’s Sweeps Under Armour Men’s Tennis Awards; VCU, St. Bonaventure Earn Women’s Accolades

2/24/2026 5:00:00 PM

WASHINGTON — The Atlantic 10 Conference named Saint Joseph’s junior Ernesto Ruy as its Under Armour Men’s Tennis Player of the Week and Hawks freshman Sehaj Singh Pawar as its Rookie of the Week. VCU junior Sofia Jane Thorne was named Women’s Tennis Player of the Week and St. Bonaventure freshman Sara Montano Parada earned Rookie of the Week honors. The awards were announced on Tuesday for matches played from Feb 16-22.
 
Ruy went 4-0 over the weekend as the No. 73-ranked Hawks knocked off #70 Lehigh 4-3 and Bucknell 4-2. On Friday, the Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico native rolled to a 6-2 win alongside Othman Bezzaz in the second double flight against Lehigh to help the Hawks earn the first point of the match. The clutch performance continued, earning a 6-2, 6-3 singles victory moments later that proved the difference. He added another doubles win on Saturday against Bucknell before defeating Liam Kilmer 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 2 position.
 
Pawar collected a pair of clinching doubles wins over the weekend before clinching the overall match for Saint Joseph’s on Saturday. Alongside Jakob Gaudreau Barnes, the Bangalore, India native earned a 6-2 doubles victory at the No. 3 doubles position against Lehigh. The duo won again the following day against Bucknell, before Pawar defeated William Robinson to seal Saint Joseph’s victory.
 
Thorne went 2-0 at the top positions for VCU this weekend, leading the Rams to a 5-2 victory over Howard. The Northbridge, Australia native took down Imani Jean 6-3, 6-0 for a comfortable singles triumph on Court 1, teaming with Andrea Magallanes for a 6-2 doubles win as well. After dropping the opening two games in her singles match, Thorne won 12 of the next 13 games in a dominant performance.
 
Parada showed impressive poise for a freshman, notching an impressive singles victory at the top position. The Santa Cruz, Bolivia native took down Dayton’s Natalie Osiecki in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, on Court 1 on Saturday.
 
WEEKLY AWARDS
DATE MEN'S PLAYER WOMEN'S PLAYER MEN'S ROOKIE WOMEN'S ROOKIE
Jan. 21 Mats Bredschneijder, VCU Tania Isabel Andrade Sabando, VCU Jakob Gaudreau Barnes, SJU Viktoria Lackova, VCU
Jan. 27 Santiago Valle, SJU Savannah Kollock, DAV Damir Abdusamadov, SJU Keri Rothenberg, DAV
Feb. 3 Kyle McNally, UD Wiktoria Czerny, SJU Edgar Vilain, GM Kajsa Helgesen, URI
Feb. 10 Kyle McNally, UD Nikki Fernando, URI Rishi Dore, UD Kajsa Helgesen, URI
Feb. 17 Deniz Okyay, GM Emmerson White, SLU Edgar Vilain, GM Viktoria Lackova, VCU
Feb. 24 Ernesto Ruy, SJU Sofia Jane Thorne, VCU Sehaj Singh Pawar, SJU Sara Montano Parada, SBU