NEW YORK | Farmingdale State College senior captain Alan Sabovic returned in 2025 to use his final season of eligibility for the Rams.
A year after winning Skyline Conference Player of the Year and leading FSC to the championship crown, Sabovic is one half of the way to repeating those honors this spring. Today, he has been named the league PofY for the second straight spring as the Skyline's eight men's tennis head coaches voted on the 2025 all-conference team.
During the regular season, Sabovic (below) went 10-1 overall all at the No. 1 flight in singles, including a pristine 7-0 in conference as the Rams secured the No. 2 seed. He teamed for an overall doubles record of 7-2, also all at the No. 1 flight, sporting a Skyline doubles record of 5-1 from the top spot. In all, he is now the FSC career singles (48) and doubles (50) wins leader. The only two-time Skyline Player of the Week selection this season was an easy choice for the coaches as the top-flight singles and doubles player as well as the reigning Skyline Player of the Year.
Meantime, the Skyline Rookie of the Year award goes to Yeshiva’s Matan Kamhi (below). The unquestioned leader of a strong Maccabee squad, Kamhi proved a rock at the No. 1 slot in both singles and doubles. In conference play, he boasts a 4-2 singles record, with all his wins coming in straight sets, while in doubles play, he is 3-2, accomplishing the feat with three different partners.
FSC, USMMA and YU also finished the regular season at 6-1 in conference. In terms of conference standings, the three-way tie went to USMMA. From the top down, the three teams split between them and beat everyone else, while a ratio of games won to games lost looked like this: USMMA is 8-6 and takes the No.1 seed, FSC is 7-7 and takes the No.2 seed and YU is 6-8 and is No. 3. Purchase (4-3) lost to USMMA and therefore takes No. 4 seed. The postseason begins today with YU and FSC squaring off. USMMA will host Purchase Tuesday.
The Rams generated the most headlines of the three programs before registering their first loss of the season. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) had FSC as high as No. 71 in the rankings. A first in program history for the Rams nationally.
Head coach Adam Waterhouse's Rams, the two-time defending Skyline Conference champions and NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship participants, went 14-3 overall and at one point had won 10 straight. His peers voted him the Coach of the Year for 2025, and like Sabovic, he repeats in the honor.
Waterhouse was born and raised in Plattsburgh, N.Y. and is a 1980 graduate of Plattsburgh High School, where he qualified for the New York State High School Championships three of his four years (1978, 1979, 1980). He received a Bachelor's degree in Biology from SUNY Oswego in 1984. At Oswego, he played four years of tennis and was a team captain in '83 and '84.
Waterhouse (below) has now earned Skyline Coach of the Year honors 13 times in his career - 2008-09 (men), 2010-11 (men), 2011-12 (men), 2012-13 (women & men), 2015-16 (women), 2018-19 (men), 2019-20 (women), 2021 (men & women), 2022 (women) and 2024.
The First Team features two of Waterhouse’s players from FSC (Zakaria Ahmed and Sabovic); RJ Novak of U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; Eli Palagatshev and Suleyman Eminov of Purchase; Lev Uitterhoeve of Manhattanville and Kamhi of YU. Six players round out the all-conference team on the Second Team, including two more from the top-seeded Mariners.
The head coaches also announced their respective recipients for the All-Sportsmanship Team (below). The conference recognizes All-Sportsmanship Team members in all 19 of its championship sports, with each program announcing one recipient for his or her sportsmanlike demeanor – both in and out of competition.
2025 Skyline Conference Men's Tennis All-Conference Team
First Team
Zakaria Ahmed, Farmingdale State (Fr.; Manhasset, N.Y.)
Suleyman Eminov, Purchase (Sr.; Mary, Turkmenistan)
Matan Kamhi, Yeshiva (Fr.; Moshav Avi'ezer, Israel)
RJ Novak, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Sr.; Yorktown, Va.)
Eli Palagatshev, Purchase (Jr.; Yonkers, N.Y.)
Alan Sabovic, Farmingdale State (Sr.; Bohemia, N.Y.)
Lev Uitterhoeve, Manhattanville (Fr.; Maastricht, The Netherlands)
Second Team
Vansh Aggarwal, Farmingdale State (Sr.; Mumbai, India)
Fredrich Buquel, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Fr.; Mission, Texas)
Derwin Guzman, Manhattanville (Jr.; Bronx, N.Y.)
Simon Kopecky, Sarah Lawrence (Sr.; Waterbury, Conn.)
Patrick Novotny, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (So.; Fort Worth, Texas)
Jacob Pfeifer, Yeshiva (Jr.; Lawrence, N.Y.)
Player of the Year: Alan Sabovic, Farmingdale State
Rookie of the Year: Matan Kamhi, Yeshiva
Coach of the Year: Adam Waterhouse (17th season)
All-Sportsmanship Team
Ryan Hendel, Farmingdale State
Lev Uitterhoeve, Manhattanville
Mateo Romero, Mount Saint Mary
Isaac Spottek, Purchase
Simon Kopecky, Sarah Lawrence
Nick Nemickas, St. Joseph's-Long Island
Wesley Cooke, USMMA
Jacob Feit, Yeshiva