BETHLEHEM, Pa. – After capturing its first Patriot League title and automatic NCAA berth, the Boston University men's tennis team claimed a program-record three major year-end awards and four All-Conference honors, the league office announced Monday afternoon.

At the helm since January of 2014, Dejan Stankovic led the Terriers to a 21-8 overall and 6-0 conference mark to claim PL Coach of the Year honors. Previously named BU's first PL Tournament MVP, Craig added the program's first Player of the Year honor, while freshman Gustavs Dambins kept the Rookie of the Year award on Commonwealth Ave. after Craig received the recognition a year prior.

All four All-PL honorees won in the PL title match against five-time defending champion Navy. Placed on the first team for the second consecutive year, Craig was joined by fellow sophomore Jakob Esterowitz on the first team, and fellow classmate Alejandro Licea remained on the second time with Dambins landing a spot as well.

Stankovic earned BU's fourth-ever Coach of the Year award after Rick Edelmann shared the honor in 2011 with Binghamton in the America East. Alum Bob Dallis ('86) was earned the first two after garnering recognition while leading the Terriers to conference titles in 1988, 1993*, 1994* and 1996. Other highlights include the Terriers earning their first win of the century against the Ivy League in a 4-3 victory at Brown and reaching 20 wins after combining for the total over the previous three years.

Craig set a pair of PL records during the regular season with four straight Player of the Week awards and six total in the spring. He posted a near-perfect 26-1 record at No. 1 singles and ended the year with a 14-match win streak. He won 36 of 45 games played in the PL tournament and only dropped five total sets during the spring. The Coconut Creek, Florida, native also posted a 14-10 doubles record with an 8-4 mark at the No. 3 slot and critical 7-6(5) win on court No. 1 in the PL semifinals.

Esterowitz (Rockville, Maryland) teamed with Craig for much of the spring in doubles for a 7-3 record at line 3 and later played the final seven matches with senior Johann Sajonz, highlighted by the other tiebreaker win in the semifinals. Joining the Terriers from Amherst in January, he went 10-4 on court 2 and 1-0 at line 3 while combining for a 12-9 doubles record. In arguably one of the biggest matches in program history, he rallied from a set down to defeat Navy in the final match, a 2:46 marathon, on court 2 to prompt a dogpile.

Licea (San Salvador, El Salvador) split time at lines 2 and 3 in singles action, posting a combined 12-7 mark during the spring. He won the first set against No. 12 Harvard's Ronan Jachuck in the No. 3 slot after capturing a point against Navy in the PL Final in straight sets. He also dispatched Army and the Midshipmen during the regular season, as BU defeated both military programs in one season for the first time in program history. During doubles, he finished the year teaming with Craig after previously playing alongside Sajonz and senior Jose Maria Robalino.

Dambins (Riga, Latvia) owned an eight-match win streak entering the NCAA tournament before dropping a two-set decision to the No. 12 Crimson. He finished second on the team with 14 wins during the spring against just six losses. He joined Craig as the other Terrier to capture a singles point in all three PL tournament matches, as he rallied from a set down to defeat the Midshipmen, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Other highlight wins came against Brown and Fordham.

2024 Men's Tennis All-Patriot League and Major Awards
Player of the Year – Corey Craig, Boston University, So.
Rookie of the Year – Gustavs Dambins, Boston University, Fr.
Doubles Team of the Year – Sasha Panyan/Luke Garner, Navy
Coach of the Year – Dejan Stankovic, Boston University
 
First Team All-Patriot League
Jake Huarte, Army West Point, Sr.
Corey Craig, Boston University, So.
Jakob Esterowitz, Boston University, So.
Amar Tahirovic, Bucknell, So.
Matt Kleiman, Lehigh, Gr.
Sasha Panyan, Navy, Sr.

Second Team All-Patriot League
Alejandro Licea, Boston University, So.
Gustavs Dambins, Boston University, Fr.
Adam Stavrakas, Bucknell, So.
Marc Blekhman, Lehigh, Jr.
Matt Cardano, Loyola Maryland, Sr.
Herrick Legaspi, Navy, So.