DeLand, Fla. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its 2009-10 list of All-Academic Teams and Scholar Athletes on Tuesday with the Stetson men's and women's tennis teams doubling up on top billing. On the men's side, Stetson was one of just 18 programs in NCAA Division I to earn All-Academic Team status while nine Hatters were named Scholar Athletes, more than any other men's team in the country.
The Stetson women's tennis squad also received one of 34 All-Academic nods. Stetson was one of only nine Division I schools to be considered an All-Academic squad in both men's and women's tennis as well as the lone Atlantic Sun Conference women's squad so recognized.
Recent MBA recipient Mark Mestan '10 (Cologne, Germany) and eight returning Hatters received honors for their hard work and exceptional achievement in the classroom. Rising seniors Alex Hackett (Surrey, England) and Chris Swanteson (Vaxjo, Sweden) lead the way along with rising juniors Cesare Gallo (Portogruaro, Italy), Chris Hyma (Miami, Fla.), Maksim Levanovich (Minsk, Belarus), Dane Moran (Morpeth, Australia) and Njal Stene (Oslo, Norway) plus future sophomore Erik Halaj (Hoover, Ala.).
The Hatters also received the team recognition last year with six players getting Scholar Athlete mention; Gallo, Levanovich, Moran and Stene are repeat winners.
Stetson's nine male award-winners were one more than Stanford and Yale; Creighton had seven recipients and Baylor put six on the list. Four student-athletes from A-Sun rival Kennesaw State were also honored. The Hatters were one of 18 men's tennis programs given the ITA All-Academic Team award, along with Baylor, Boston College, The Citadel, Creighton, Delaware, Gardner-Webb, George Washington, Kennesaw State, NJIT, Pacific, Southern Illinois, Stanford, TCU, UNC Wilmington, William & Mary, Winthrop and Yale.
Five Stetson women's tennis student-athletes took individual honors as well: Breanna Atkinson '10, Natalie Gorham '10, Katherine Nowicki '10, rising senior Jacqueline Faulk (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and rising junior Shannon Gunning (Boca Raton, Fla.)
The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale); in order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must meet the following criteria: 1.) be a varsity letter winner, 2.) have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and 3.) have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including freshman thorough senior year).
