Greenville, S.C. – Furman's Jerry Barton was voted the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year as the league today announced its men's tennis postseason awards for the 2023 season.

Along with Barton, freshman Thomas Kennedy was also honored with a SoCon postseason award. Barton was voted first team All-SoCon singles and joined Kennedy on the SoCon All-Freshman Team.

Postseason balloting was conducted by the league's head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.

A freshman from Bedford, Texas, Barton becomes the seventh player, and second straight, in program history to be named Freshman of the Year. He led Furman this season with 11 singles wins, all coming at No. 1, and finished the year 9-1 in his final 10 matches. Barton posted the third-most wins in the conference at No. 1 singles and compiled a team-leading 6-1 record against SoCon opponents. He also compiled 11 wins in doubles competition, second-most on the team, after playing at all three positions.

Kennedy, who hails from Atlanta, Ga., ranks second on the team this season with nine singles victories coming at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots. He went 4-2 in the conference highlighted by three wins at the No. 4 position. In doubles, Kennedy was also second on the team with 10 wins including nine at the top position.

The 2023 Southern Conference Men's Tennis Championship begins Thursday at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Paladins (10-13, 4-3 SoCon) enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed and will take on No. 4 Samford Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.

Furman and Samford will be meeting for the 21^st time in program history with the Paladins owning a 13-7 advantage in the all-time series. The Bulldogs earned a 5-2 win over Furman in Greenville on March 27.

Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. Updates will be posted on the Furman men's tennis Twitter page (@FurmanMTennis).

2023 SoCon Men's Tennis Postseason Awards
Player of the Year
Dimitri Badra, R-Jr., ETSU

Freshman of the Year
Jerry Barton, Furman

Coach of the Year
Chuck Merzbacher, Chattanooga

Buddy Hartsell Sportsmanship Award
Hayden Shoemake, Jr., The Citadel
Robbie Young, So., Wofford

All-Southern Conference
First Team
Singles
Hayden Shoemake, The Citadel
Dimitri Badra, ETSU
Thiago Pernas, ETSU
Jerry Barton, Furman
Maxwell Giddens, Samford
Kerim Hyatt, Chattanooga
Doubles
Hayden Shoemake/Sebastian Kamieniecki, The Citadel
Sandeep Mohandoss/Maxwell Giddens, Samford
Peyton Gatti/Simon Labbe, Chattanooga

Second Team
Singles
Lucas Dini, Mercer
Marceau Foulihoux, Mercer
Samuel MacLeod, Mercer
Mohammed Ali Bellalouna, Samford
Sandeep Mohandoss, Samford
Gabriel Castillo Sanchez, Chattanooga
Doubles
Dimitri Badra/Adam Nagoudi, ETSU
Marceau Foulihoux/Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer
Kerim Hyatt/Kristof Kincses, Chattanooga

All-Freshman Team
Pedro Cressoni, ETSU
Jerry Barton, Furman
Thomas Kennedy, Furman
Nemanja Stefanovic, Mercer
Darcy Nicholls, Samford
Cortland Grove, Chattanooga