TEMPE, Ariz. --- Six student-athletes from the Moravian College men's and women's tennis teams have been named 2017 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athletes and the women's squad was also received the ITA All-Academic Team award.
Senior Giovanni Lombardi and sophomore Austin Grace from the men's team and senior Brittney Eady, junior Grace Bailly, sophomore Kate Rennar and freshman Emily Snyder from the women's squad were named ITA Scholar-Athletes with Lombardi repeating the honor for a second straight year.
For a student-athlete to ITA Scholar-Athlete honors, they must maintain at least a 3.50 GPA, earn a varsity letter and be enrolled for at least two semesters. Over 3,900 student-athletes across all divisions were honored with ITS Scholar-Athlete status and 720 teams earned the ITA All-Academic Team award for maintaining over at least a 3.20 GPA. All varsity letter winners were factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2016 and spring 2017).
"Moravian College is known for strong academic programs and strong athletic teams," stated second-year Director of Tennis Alan Heverly. "With both pride and pleasure, I can say that these players so honored contributed in a big way to our teams. A Scholar Athlete Award is the pinnacle of achievement for a student-athlete at Moravian and all these players are very deserving of recognition."
Lombardi was selected to the 2017 Landmark Conference Spring All-Sportsmanship Team, and he also made the Landmark Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll for the third straight year while Grace was selected to the Landmark Academic Honor Roll for the first time.
"Gio was my captain and there was no doubt that he was a strong leader and the perfect role model for the men's team," Heverly said. "He played the number one position and that is an extremely difficult undertaking as almost every school has at least one tennis player who is extremely skilled. He maintained an extremely high GPA, worked in an internship, and performed social services with the team and did this all while improving his skills on the court. When I think of character I think of Gio and I know both the team and I will miss him.
"Austin is a great student who works hard both on and off the court," Heverly continued. "Along with his studies he is a very dedicated RA who has his fellow students best interests at heart. Austin is the most improved player on the team in the last year. His hard was very apparent and I am looking forward to coaching him this year."
Eady was the 2017 Landmark Conference Women's Tennis Athlete of the Year after a 15-2 singles mark and a 12-5 doubles slate, and she was selected to the Landmark All-Conference First Team in Singles and Doubles. Eady, who was also on the Landmark Conference Spring All-Sportsmanship Team, finished her career ranked eighth in school history with 52 singles victories and tied for second with 47 doubles wins. Bailly was 8-4 in singles action this past season while Rennar had seven singles wins and Snyder added three victories. Rennar and Snyder combined for a 5-5 doubles mark.
"Brittney was a tremendous leader as the team captain and this award further demonstrates she is a great role model for any player," Heverly noted. "Grace contributed to our team's success with Grace scoring important wins for the women's team in singles competition. Kate and Emily had winning records in doubles and during the season had some big wins that helped put us over the top and into the playoffs. To perform well on the court with that kind of pressure and still excel in the classroom says much about the caliber of players on our women's team."
To view the entire list of 2016-17 ITA All-Academic Teams and ITA Scholar-Athletes, visit http://www.itatennis.com/Awards_4114/Academic-Awards.htm.