May 6, 2013

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Saint Joseph's senior Alex Veronis and junior Jose Sierra were named to the 2013 Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis All-Conference Second Team on Monday afternoon.

It is the third consecutive All-Conference honor for Veronis, while Sierra earned the nod in his first season on Hawk Hill.

Veronis battled back from injury to fill the Hawks' number one singles position. He earned five top-flight victories this season, including two against Atlantic 10 opposition. He also posted a 6-3, 6-1 straight-sets victory in the first flight in SJU's Atlantic 10 Championship defeat to Butler.

In addition, he was 8-8 in doubles play this season, including five wins in the third flight. His 40 career singles victories tie him for ninth all-time in SJU history, while his 24 career first-flight wins are fourth all-time.

Veronis is the first Hawk to earn three consecutive All-Atlantic 10 honors since Francisco Velazquez earned four straight between 2002 and 2005. Last season, he was also named to the A-10 All-Academic Team as well as the Philadelphia Inquirer/PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Squad.

Sierra took over the second flight responsibilities this spring and posted a 7-2 record in that flight, going 11-10 overall. His outstanding 5-1 singles mark against conference opponents helped carry the Hawks to four wins against A-10 foes.

In doubles play, he posted nine victories, including five in the top flight. Overall, Sierra recorded 20 victories, one of five Hawks to reach that mark this season.

This marks the first time Saint Joseph's has had two men's tennis student-athletes on the All-Conference teams since Chris and Jarrett Chirico were both named to the First Team in 2007.