The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Spizzirri named ITA National Player of the Year
06.12.2023 | Men's Tennis
Junior Eliot Spizzirri earned the honor by virtue of his No. 1 ranking at the end of the season, while he was also selected as ITA Senior Player of the Year.
Austin – Texas Men's Tennis junior Eliot Spizzirri was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Year and the Senior Player of the Year, the ITA announced Monday.
Spizzirri closed the season ranked No. 1 in singles, leading to the National Player of the Year honor, while he qualified for the senior award since his last remaining year of eligibility is due to the pandemic. Spizzirri is just the second Longhorn to hold the top singles spot at the end of the season since the rankings began in 1981, along with Steve Bryan in 1990. He is additionally the second Texas player to be chosen Senior of the Year, an award which also began in 1981, following Søren Hess-Olesen in 2015.
Spizzirri moved to No. 1 on Feb. 8, which were the first rankings released after the beginning of dual match play, and he held that position the rest of the way. He had been the first Longhorn to reach No. 1 at any point in the season since Hess-Olesen in 2015.
He was an ITA All-American in both singles and doubles for the fourth and fifth All-America honors of his career with two in singles and three-straight in doubles, and it marked the second time he has earned them in both in the same year after doing so in 2021. He and partner junior Cleeve Harper were No. 2 in doubles, coming off their runner-up finish in the NCAA Doubles Championships.
The 2023 Big 12 Player of the Year and a first-team All-Big 12 selection in both singles and doubles, Spizzirri posted a 36-5 overall record in singles and 20-1 in dual matches, all of which were at the No. 1 line. He was 27-2 against all ranked singles players, including 18-1 against the top-50, and 11-1 versus the top-25. At the ITA Indoor Nationals, Spizzirri was named the Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles. He was also tabbed to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles and was the No. 1 singles position champion in the conference. Additionally, he was named the Big 12 Player of the Week five times this season, which tied his own Big 12 single-season mark from 2021, and a record 10 times for his career.
In doubles, he and Harper were in the ITA top-three for a majority of the season. They completed their year with a 28-14 overall record, including 17 wins over ranked opponents with 10 of those against the top-25, six versus the top-10, and three against top-two teams, including a win against No. 1 Toby Samuel and Connor Thomson of South Carolina. They also earned first-team All-Big 12 honors and the Big 12 position championship at No. 1 doubles.
Players Mentioned
