Men's Tennis Earns ITA All-Academic Team Honors; Five Greyhounds Named ITA Scholar-Athletes
SKILLMAN, N.J. --- The Moravian College men’s tennis team has earned All-Academic Team honors from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for a third straight year, and five student-athlete rising senior Lewis Cooper, rising junior Matt Tuorto and sophomores-to-be Mike Antonis, Alec Gerhart and Giovanni Lombardi were named ITA Scholar-Athletes.
SKILLMAN, N.J. --- The Moravian College men's tennis team has earned All-Academic Team honors from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for a third straight year, and five student-athlete rising senior Lewis Cooper, rising junior Matt Tuorto and sophomores-to-be Mike Antonis, Alec Gerhart and Giovanni Lombardi were named ITA Scholar-Athletes.
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). All eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA/NAIA eligibility form and have competed in one or more matches are averaged into the cumulative grade point average for the current year (including fall 2013 and spring 2014).
The Greyhounds are one of 31 NCAA Division III men's teams to win the ITA All-Academic Team award and only Landmark Conference men's team honored.
For a student-athlete to earn 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. Nearly 370 NCAA Division III male student-athletes were honored.
"I am really lucky to be able to be associated with such a tremendous group of young men that are currently on our tennis team at Moravian College," said Director of Tennis Art Smith. "Whenever we have a prospective student-athlete, who is interested in tennis, visit our campus one of the first things I try to do is have them meet some of our players. Our team is committed to their academics, their sport and service to the Moravian community. To receive these awards from the ITA is a tribute to the selected individuals and the Moravian tennis team as a whole."
Cooper, who was named the Merr Trumbore Men's Tennis Award for 2013-14, earned spots on the Landmark All-Conference Second Team in both singles and doubles after posting records of 10-6 at third singles and 12-4 at second doubles with Antonis as the duo had a perfect 7-0 mark in Landmark matches. Cooper, who was also on the 2013 Landmark All-Conference Second Team in doubles, is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete Award winner. He missed the fall portion of the 2013-14 season while starting for the men's soccer team at Moravian.
Tuorto also made the Landmark All-Conference Second Team in doubles for a second straight season after he and junior-to-be John Wylie posted an 11-8 mark at first doubles for the Greyhounds. Tuorto, who served as a team captain along with Cooper, was 10-13 in singles action this past season, seeing time in the top three spots in the lineup.
Antonis was honored on the Landmark All-Conference Second Team in doubles in his debut season, and he also posted a 15-6 singles mark that included a 9-2 slate at fourth singles.
Gerhart and Lombardi both saw action in singles and doubles action last season. Lombardi was 9-13 in singles action and 9-14 in doubles while Gerhart competed in several tournaments last fall.
To view the entire 2013-14 NCAA Division III Men's All-Academic Teams and ITA Scholar-Athletes, visit http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Academic-Awards/2014_Men_s_Div__III_Academic_Awards.htm.
