Cunha Named ACC Player and Freshman of the Year

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke freshman Henrique Cunha became the first individual in ACC history to earn both the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Freshman of the Year honors while junior Reid Carleton was also named to the All-ACC squad in an announcement by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Thursday.

Cunha, a Jau, Brazil native, joins Georgia Tech's Bryan Shelton (1985) as the only freshman to win ACC Player of the Year since the award was first handed out in 1985. Duke now has three players who have received ACC Player of the Year honors as Jason Rubell won it 1991 and Phillip King took home the honor in 2002. Cunha becomes the fourth Blue Devil to receive ACC Freshman of the Year, joining Dmitry Muzyka (1996), Doug Root (1997) and Phillip King (2001).

Carleton receives his second career All-ACC selection as he was named to the team as a freshman in 2008 while Cunha earns his first honor. Duke has now had at least two selections to the All-ACC team 22 times in the last 24 seasons.

This season Cunha went 30-5 in singles and 35-5 in doubles. He was undefeated in ACC singles play with an 8-0 record and only lost one doubles match with Reid Carleton as the two went 8-1. He is the first freshman at Duke to go undefeated in ACC play at the No. 1 position and just the third Blue Devil to do so.

The 30 singles wins make him just the eighth freshman at Duke to win 30 or more matches in a season. He ended the year on a 15-match winning streak. He has posted an 18-3 record against ranked individuals with wins over the No. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7 players in the country this season.

The duo of Cunha and Carleton have tied a school record for most doubles wins in a single year as a duo with 35. The two players have gone 18-2 in dual matches and have a 10-5 record against ranked opponents. For Carleton he has a 38-5 doubles record as an individual, breaking Jonathan Stokke's school record of 37 in 2003-04.

Carleton recorded an 18-13 record in singles with a 7-4 mark in ACC play. The Naples, Fla. native went 2-1 at the No. 1 spot and 10-7 at the No. 2 position in dual matches. He has defeated eight ranked opponents in singles this season.

The Blue Devils will open up ACC Tournament play tomorrow at 12 noon against the winner of today's match between seventh-seeded Florida State and 10th-seeded Clemson.

2010 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Tennis Team
Akash Muppidi, Sophomore, Boston College
Reid Carleton, Junior, Duke*
Hernrique Cunha, Freshman, Duke
Jean-Yves Aubone, Senior, Florida State**
Vahid Mirzadeh, Senior, Florida State
Guillermo Gomez, Junior, Georgia Tech**
Kevin King, Sophomore, Georgia Tech
Clay Donato, Senior, North Carolina**
Jose Hernandez, Freshman, North Carolina
Jaime Pulgar, Sophomore, NC State
Drew Courtney, Sophomore, Virginia
Jarmere Jenkins, Freshman, Virginia
Michael Shabaz, Junior, Virginia*
Sanam Singh, Junior Virginia**
Yoann Re, Senior, Virginia Tech**
Luka Somen, Sophomore, Virginia Tech
Tripper Carleton, Freshman, Wake Forest
Steve Forman, Senior, Wake Forest**

ACC Player of the Year - Henrique Cunha, Duke
ACC Freshman of the Year - Henrique Cunha, Duke
ACC Coach of the Year - Brian Boland, Virginia

* - Repeat All-ACC Selections
** - Three-time honoree