Stetson University's tennis program not only handed head coach Pierre Pilote his 400th career victory during the 2011-12 season, but also came close to perfection in the class room.
The women's team placing seven of eight players on the Atlantic Sun Academic honor roll for the 2011-12 year. The Hatters' men's team matched that total, giving the teams a combined 14 of 17 players on the honor rolls.
“The A-Sun academic awards add to an already very successful academic year for both men's and women's tennis teams,” Pilote said. “The ITA All-Academic team awards and the Scholar Athlete awards will be announced within the next few weeks and expect both program to receive the team award and a number of players the Scholar athlete award.
“When it is all said and done, this will turn out to be our most successful year academically in the programs' history.”
A pair of players on the men's squad, seniors Maksim Levanovich and Dane Moran, were two of just seven Hatters named to the A-Sun President's List, which is awarded only to student-athletes who have completed their eligibility with a GPA of 3.8 or better. Only 41 student-athletes from across the conference received this honor.
“Maksim had an outstanding year both on the court and in the classroom,” Pilote said. “He is very worthy of all the recognition he is receiving since his graduation.”
Another member of the men's team, senior Njal Stene, received the A-Sun Commissioner's Scholar recognition. That honor was awarded to just 46 student-athletes from across the league and requires a GPA of between 3.6 and 3.79 upon graduation.
Six Hatters received recognition on the Conference Scholar's List for having a GPA of at least 3.4, three from the men's team and three from the women's squad. That list included a total of 406 student-athletes from around the league, 55 from Stetson.
Senior Shannon Gunning, junior Jen Miller and sophomore MayaBlue Stauffer-MacDowell were all named to the Conference Scholar list from the women's team while senior Chris Hyma, junior Erik Halaj and sophomore Hans Adrian Riseng were recognized from the men's team.
The Hatters also placed five others on the All-Academic team for posting a GPA of at least 3.0.
That list includes juniors Sara Lazarevic and Clarke Tatje, sophomore Diana Bukajeva as well as freshman Rachel Luke from the women's squad and junior Didrik Berg from the men's team.
Overall, the A-Sun recognized 1,416 student-athletes as All-Academic selections for their work in the classroom by reaching the 3.0 mark. Additionally, 89 percent of the A-Sun's 18 championship teams had at least half of the student-athletes on their rosters earn All-Academic recognition.
Stetson was one of four league institutions to have had more than 70 percent of its student-athletes recognized for having a grade-point average of at least 3.0. Stetson had 139 of its 197 student-athletes who competed in the Atlantic Sun recognized.
“I applaud all who continue to successfully achieve as student-athletes,” A-Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart said. “To see nearly two-thirds of our student-athletes earn this level of academic distinction means that they certainly are committed to the A-Sun's mission of 'Building Winners for Life.'
“It is important to recognize that this is a team effort, due to the commitment of the athletic administration, coaches and staff of our member institutions, who daily serve as the catalysts for such impressive development of our young people. Congratulations and thank you again to the institutions and to each student-athlete for providing such an outstanding representation of the Atlantic Sun Conference.”
