LANCASTER, Pa. -- Swarthmore's Michael Melnikov was named Player of the Year for the fourth straight season to lead the 2026 All-Centennial Men's Tennis Team. Swarthmore's Nikola Galov and the Garnet coaching staff nabbed the other major awards.
Melnikov four-peated as Player of the Year to become the first player in the 33-year history of Centennial men's tennis to claim the honor four times. There have been two players who earned Player of the Year three times - Washington College's Jose Lejarraga (2000-01-02) and Arturo Solis (2005-06-07). Undoubtedly one of the top players in CC history, Melnikov boasts a 100-17 career singles record and a 76-31 career doubles record with the NCAA postseason still on tap. This season, Melnikov owns a 32-3 singles mark, including a 19-0 dual match record, and a 15-11 doubles record playing at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles.
Galov was tabbed as Rookie of the Year to become the fourth Garnet player to collect top newcomer honors in the 13-year history of the award. Playing mostly at No. 3 singles, Galov is 16-10 on the year including a 9-8 mark in dual matches. He also owns a 10-2 mark in doubles play. Galov was also a first team singles pick, one of two conference freshmen to receive that accolade.
The Swarthmore coaching staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year for the fourth straight season. Head coach Jason Box and assistants Brian Kane, Marc Fisicaro, Mark Fallati, Noah Cheng and Mohanchand Koduri guided the Garnet to their fourth straight CC title, a 20-6 overall record and an umblemished 7-0 record in conference play.
Melnikov and Swarthmore teammate Max Lindstrom are both now four-time first team singles selections, becoming the ninth and 10th players in CC history to earn that distinction. Melnikov and doubles partner Utham Koduri nabbed first team doubles honors for the third time, becoming the 11th doubles pair in conference history to do so. F&M's Zac Ashtiani secured All-CC singles honors for the fourth time in his career.
Swarthmore paced all teams with a conference-best eight players honored, followed by Franklin & Marshall (5), Haverford (4), Washington College (3), Gettysburg (2), Dickinson (1) and Ursinus (1).
Player of the Year – Michael Melnikov, Sr., Swarthmore
Rookie of the Year – Nikola Galov, Fr., Swarthmore
Coaching Staff of the Year – Swarthmore
| First Team Singles |
|
|
|
|
|
| Name |
Cl. |
Hometown / High School |
| Michael Melnikov, Swarthmore + |
Sr. |
Karlsruhe, Germany / Markgarden Gymnasium |
| Nikhil Lavu, Haverford # |
Sr. |
Bryn Mawr, Pa. / Episcopal Academy |
| Luke Brodsky, Franklin & Marshall * |
Sr. |
Westport, Conn. / Staples |
| Max Lindstrom, Swarthmore + |
Sr. |
Satellite Beach, Fla. / Satellite |
| Maxi Synnestvedt, Washington College |
Fr. |
Stabekk, Norway / Stabekk |
| Tichi Chialva, Washington College |
Jr. |
Cordoba, Argentina / La Salle |
| Nikola Galov, Swarthmore |
Fr. |
Herndon, Va. / Langley |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| First Team Doubles |
|
|
| Name |
Cl. |
Hometown / High School |
| Luke Brodsky, Franklin & Marshall @ |
Sr. |
Westport, Conn. / Staples |
| Zac Ashtiani, Franklin & Marshall @ |
Sr. |
Tiburon, Calif. / San Francisco University HS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Michael Melnikov, Swarthmore % |
Sr. |
Karlsruhe, Germany / Markgarden Gymnasium |
| Utham Koduri, Swarthmore % |
Sr. |
Plano, Texas / Plano West |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Marko Arboleda, Haverford $ |
Jr. |
Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley |
| Roberto Vazquez, Haverford |
Fr. |
Houston, Texas / Cy-Fair |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team Singles |
|
|
| Name |
Cl. |
Hometown / High School |
| Marko Arboleda, Haverford * |
Jr. |
Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley |
| Lucas Bogle, Dickinson ! |
So. |
London, United Kingdom / Emilio Sanchez American School |
| Zac Ashtiani, Franklin & Marshall ^ |
Sr. |
Tiburon, Calif. / San Francisco University HS |
| Lalith Suresh, Swarthmore & |
Sr. |
Lehi, Utah / Waterford |
| Teodor Bortan, Haverford |
So. |
Old Saybrook, Conn. / Hopkins School |
| Sam Donnelly, Franklin & Marshall |
Jr. |
Darien, Conn. / Darien |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team Doubles |
|
|
| Name |
Cl. |
Hometown / High School |
| Andres Fente, Swarthmore > |
Sr. |
Boca Raton, Fla. / St. Andrew's |
| Kai Chen, Swarthmore < |
So. |
Edina, Minn. / The Blake School |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tichiano Chialva, Washington College < |
Jr. |
Cordoba, Argentina / La Salle |
| Jorge Urgal Zuleta, Washington College |
Jr. |
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic / St. Michael's School |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Soren Rudin-Aulenbach, Franklin & Marshall = |
So. |
Brooklyn, N.Y. / The Beacon School |
| Gonzalo Gentou, Franklin & Marshall ~ |
Sr. |
Madrid, Spain / Lycee Franvßais Moliere |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Honorable Mention Singles |
|
|
| Name |
Cl. |
Hometown / High School |
| Deniz Finkel, Ursinus |
Jr. |
Pittsburgh, Pa. / Taylor Allderdice |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Honorable Mention Doubles |
|
|
| Name |
Cl. |
Hometown / High School |
| Max Lindstrom, Swarthmore @ |
Sr. |
Satellite Beach, Fla. / Satellite |
| Winston Zhang, Swarthmore |
Jr. |
Oakville, Ontario, Canada / Iroquois Ridge |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Teo Burgess, Gettysburg |
Jr. |
Rockville, Md. / Wheaton |
| Matt Porreca, Gettysburg |
Jr. |
Blue Bell, Pa. / La Salle College |
|
|
|
+ 1st team All-Centennial singles in 2025, 2024 and 2023
* 1st team All-Centennial singles in 2025 and 2024
^ 2nd team All-Centennial singles in 2025, Honorable Mention in 2024 and 2023
& 2nd team All-Centennial singles in 2023, Honorable Mention in 2024
# 2nd team All-Centennial singles in 2025
! Honorable Mention singles in 2025
> 1st team All-Centennial doubles in 2025 and 2024
% 1st team All-Centennial doubles in 2024 and 2023
$ 1st team All-Centennial doubles in 2024, Honorable Mention in 2025
< 1st team All-Centennial doubles in 2025
@ 2nd team All-Centennial doubles in 2025, Honorable Mention in 2023
= 2nd team All-Centennial doubles in 2025
~ 2nd team All-Centennial doubles in 2023
|
All-Sportsmanship Team
- Ben Cioladis, Dickinson, Fr., Kildare, Ireland
- Gonzalo Gentou, Franklin & Marshall, Sr., Madrid, Spain
- Matt Porreca, Gettysburg, Jr., Blue Bell, Pa.
- Chaitanya Krishna, Haverford, Jr., Wayne, Pa.
- Matt Miller, Muhlenberg, Jr., Waldwick, N.J.
- Rishi Verma, Swarthmore, Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Noah Dichter, Ursinus, Jr., Chapel Hill, N.C.
- Petter Storberg, Washington College, Fr., Hovik, Akershus, Norway
Centennial Conference Players of the Year
1994 Robin Sander, Washington College
1995 Robin Sander, Washington College
1996 Michael Kember, Washington College
1997 Sherif Abdel-Misih, Sr., Franklin & Marshall
1998 Brandon Cutter, Sr., Gettysburg
1999 Tomas Lejarraga, Washington College
2000 Jose Lejarraga, Soph., Washington College
2001 Jose Lejarraga, Jr., Washington College
2002 Jose Lejarraga, Sr., Washington College
2003 Peter Taylor, Jr., Washington College
2004 Peter Taylor, Sr., Washington College
2005 Arturo Solis, Soph., Washington College
2006 Arturo Solis, Jr., Washington College
2007 Arturo Solis, Sr., Washington College
2008 Tom Kinrade, Jr., Haverford
2009 David Maldow, Jr., Johns Hopkins
2010 David Maldow, Sr., Johns Hopkins
2011 Adam Cranford, Sr., Washington College
2012 Andy Hersh, Jr., Johns Hopkins
2013 Ross Silverberg, Sr., Franklin & Marshall
2014 Mike Buxbaum, Fr., Johns Hopkins
2015 Mike Buxbaum, Soph., Johns Hopkins
2016 Mark Fallati, Soph., Swarthmore
2017 Jeremy Dubin, Sr., Johns Hopkins
2018 Mark Fallati, Sr., Swarthmore
2019 Josh Moskovitz, Sr., Haverford
2021 Vishnu Joshi, Sr., Johns Hopkins
2022 Thomas Yu, So., Johns Hopkins
2023 Michael Melnikov, Fr., Swarthmore
2024 Michael Melnikov, So., Swarthmore
2025 Michael Melnikov, Jr., Swarthmore
2026 Michael Melnikov, Sr., Swarthmore
Centennial Conference Rookies of the Year
2013 Luis Acaba, Haverford
2014 Mike Buxbaum, Johns Hopkins
2015 Mark Fallati, Swarthmore
2016 Josh Moskovitz, Haverford
2017 Kevin Yan, Haverford
2018 Thibault Vernier, Swarthmore
2019 Leonid Sorkin, Dickinson
2021 Thomas Yu, Johns Hopkins
2022 Andreas Wingert, Haverford
2023 Michael Melnikov, Swarthmore
2024 Marko Arboleda, Haverford
2025 Sihoo Kim, Washington College
2026 Nikola Galov, Fr., Swarthmore
Centennial Conference Coaches / Coaching Staffs of the Year
2009 Sean Sloane, Haverford
2010 Pete Smith, Ursinus
2011 Chuck Willenborg, Johns Hopkins
2012 Sean Kelleher, Franklin & Marshall
2013 Pete Smith, Ursinus
2014 Bob Detrich, McDaniel
2015 Jim Kohr, Dickinson
2016 Mike Mullan, Swarthmore
2017 Chuck Willenborg, Johns Hopkins
2018 Sean Sloane, Haverford
2019 Brendan Kincaid, Haverford
2021 Josh Schofield, Franklin & Marshall
2022 Eric Spangler, Haverford
2023 Swarthmore
2024 Swarthmore
2025 Swarthmore
2026 Swarthmore
