May 8, 2012

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y. - The Queens College athletics department held its annual awards dinner Monday night (May 7) at The Inn at New Hyde Park, and senior volleyball All-American, Jovana Pavlovic (Belgrade, Serbia), along with classmate and men's swimming standout Luke Culicerto (Roanoke, Va.) received the college's Female and Male Silver Knight Awards, respectively.

The evening served as a celebration of a successful 2011-12 athletics campaign for the Knights' 200-plus student-athletes. In total, 86 awards were handed out by Queens College assistant vice president of athletics, China Jude and her staff.

Pavlovic, a middle blocker for first-year head coach Leanna Taylor's squad, was named to the East Coast Conference's first-team all-conference squad. She continued to receive accolades upon the conclusion of the season, as the senior was named to the Daktronics All-East Region First Team, as well as its Honorable Mention All-America squad. Pavlovic, a graphic design major, was actively involved in helping the athletics department at numerous events, and designed its soon-to-be-released Year in Review.

Culicerto was a record-setting swimmer for head coach Jeremy Cuebas's Knights, and received the Metropolitan Swim Conference's prestigious Dick Krempecki Outstanding Senior Award for his accomplishments in the pool and in the community. He helped QC to school records in the 200-yard freestyle and medley relays at this winter's Metropolitan Swim Conference Championships, and is the vice-president of the Queens Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Culicerto is also the school record holder in the 500-yard freestyle, as well as the 200- and 400-yard individual medley events.

Seniors Indira Avila (Hicksville, N.Y.) and Attila Toth (Budapest, Hungary) took home female and male Most Valuable Player honors, respectively. Avila became the first NCAA Division II Women's Cross Country Championships qualifier in school history in the fall, and earned all-East Region kudos during the indoor track season in the 5,000-meter run. Toth is ranked No. 17 and 15 nationally in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Division II singles and doubles (along with Nikolaj Wulff) polls, respectively, and helped head coach Craig Schwartz's men's tennis squad to qualify for its fourth-consecutive NCAA Division II Round of 16.

Outstanding Senior awards went to women's soccer player Andrea Slavin (Floral Park, N.Y.), and men's basketball's Khalil McDonald. Slavin was an All-ECC second team selection as a senior, and the two-time all-region performer (2008, '09) registered 42 goals in 58 career QC games. She will be participating in the Coach Across America program going forward, a non-profit organization that places coaches in underprivileged areas of the country.

McDonald, a two-time All-ECC selection, became just the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Additionally, he is just the 11th player in program history to register 1,000 career points (1,109) and 500 career rebounds (575).

Another pair of well-rounded student-athletes are sophomores Michelle Martins (Mineola, N.Y.) of the women's cross country and track and field teams, and men's soccer player Scott Cain (Huntington, N.Y.) - winners of the Paul Paplin Scholar-Athlete Awards. Martins is a double major in communication and science disorders, and psychology. She also carries a business and liberal arts minor.

Cain is a physical education major with a business and liberal arts minor.

Men's tennis sophomore Andre Pellegrino (Sao Paolo, Brazil) was named first-team All-ECC this season, and is the No. 6-ranked player in the NCAA Division II East Region according to the latest ITA poll. He, and classmate Ceren Kilic (Istanbul, Turkey), a starting setter in the volleyball team's 6-2 offense, were named Queens College's Most Improved award winners.

Rounding out the institutional's top honors for the year were the Outstanding Freshman award winners: men's cross country/track and field standout Tyler Bay (Woodhaven, N.Y.), and women's tennis player Francesca Fanchin (New York, N.Y.). Bay was a one-time recipient of the East Coast Conference's Rookie of the Week award in cross country, and helped the Knights to a fourth-place showing at the ECC meet while exhibiting strong times in the distance events during track and field season. Fanchin was an All-ECC Second Team selection, and enters the NCAA Division II Round of 16 with a 15-5 record in doubles action and a 16-3 mark in singles play.

The following student-athletes received awards from their respective teams for their on- and off-field excellence in 2011-12:

Team Awards

Baseball

• Most Valuable Player: Anthony Mazzella
• Most Improved: Matthew Cascello
• Outstanding Freshman: Nick LoBello
• Scholar-Athlete: Joe Salanitri

Men's Basketball

• Most Valuable Player: Khalil McDonald
• Most Improved: Pat Piasecki
• Outstanding Freshman: Abe Akanmu
• Scholar-Athlete: Keith Kilpatrick

Women's Basketball

• Most Valuable Player: Nicole Caggiano
• Most Improved: Samantha Gillman
• Outstanding Freshman: Megan Lonergan
• Scholar-Athlete: Catherine Pastor

Men's Cross Country

• Most Valuable Player: Max Gazzara
• Most Improved: Joseph Mayer
• Outstanding Freshman: Tyler Bay
• Scholar-Athlete: Peter Kramer

Women's Cross Country

• Most Valuable Player: Indira Avila
• Most Improved: Sara Wong
• Outstanding Freshman: Miriam Gonzalez
• Scholar-Athlete: Michelle Martins

Dance

• Most Valuable Player: Gena Novelli
• Most Improved: Ogechi Nwaogu
• Outstanding Freshman: Paula Katsanos
• Scholar-Athlete: Angela Pagounidis

Fencing

• Most Valuable Player: Haley Ward
• Most Improved: Janine-Marie Rafio
• Outstanding Freshman: Amanda Henri
• Scholar-Athlete: Frances Fuster

Lacrosse

• Most Valuable Player: Sarah Boucher
• Most Improved: Erica Schuler
• Outstanding Freshman: Shannon Doody
• Scholar-Athlete: Meghan Monahan

Men's Soccer

• Most Valuable Player: Danny Stoker
• Most Improved: Sardar Karabay
• Outstanding Freshman: James Dukas
• Scholar-Athlete: Scott Cain

Women's Soccer

• Most Valuable Player: Allison Breakey
• Most Improved: Sasha Ortiz
• Outstanding Freshman: Alexandra Troiano
• Scholar-Athlete: Lorena Russi

Softball

• Most Valuable Player: Isabelle Yaroch
• Most Improved: Jennifer Shereyka
• Outstanding Freshman: Samantha Mattsson
• Scholar-Athlete: Nicole Turato

Men's Swimming and Diving

• Most Valuable Player: Algirdas Skukauskas
• Most Improved: Brandon Sweetman
• Outstanding Freshman: James Leung
• Scholar-Athlete: Max Gottfried

Women's Swimming and Diving

• Most Valuable Player: Sissi Ribeiro
• Most Improved: Nicole Orsino
• Outstanding Freshman: Emina Kadrich
• Scholar-Athlete: Elizabeth Evangelou

Men's Tennis

• Most Valuable Player: Atilla Toth and Tyrone Ewels
• Most Improved: Jesse Smith
• Scholar-Athlete: Andre Pellegrino

Women's Tennis

• Most Valuable Player: Erika Goldsmith
• Most Improved: Anna Rodionova
• Outstanding Freshman: Francesca Fanchin
• Scholar-Athlete: Daniela Celi

Men's Track and Field

• Most Valuable Player: Vincent Fratto and Marvin Mandat
• Most Improved: Peter Kramer
• Outstanding Freshman: Andrew Nadler
• Scholar-Athlete: Andrew Mayer

Women's Track and Field

• Most Valuable Player: Indira Avila and Diane Etienne
• Most Improved: Katherine Colon
• Outstanding Freshman: Kristina Gabrielsen
• Scholar-Athlete: Emily Monaco

Volleyball

• Most Valuable Player: Jovana Pavlovic
• Most Improved: Ceren Kilic
• Outstanding Freshman: Rita Romeo
• Scholar-Athlete: Suzanne Byrne