The Hillsdale College men's and women's tennis teams had a stellar campaign in 2020-21, with both squads making the NCAA Tournament and capturing G-MAC titles.
Earlier this week, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association recognized the Charger squads for excellence off the court as well as on it, as both the men's and women's tennis team earned All-Academic honors, and several players from each squad were recognized as Scholar Athletes individually as well.
It's the fourth straight season the Charger men have earned All-Academic recognition from ITA, and the fifth consecutive year for the women.
In order to earn All-Academic Team honors, a team must have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or above among all varsity letter-winners for the current academic year, a threshold the Chargers easily exceeded in the 2020-21 school year.
As expected of two squads that earned academic recognition as a team, several Charger tennis players were named ITA Scholar-Athletes as well for their individual academic accomplishments. For the second straight season, thirteen Hillsdale tennis players received Scholar-Athlete honors, seven men and six women.
On the men's side, graduated seniors Gabe Katz, Ivanhoe Lissanevitch and Nico de Enrique Schmidt all earned Scholar-Athlete honors, as did underclassmen Tyler Conrad, Brennan Cimpeanu, Sean Barstow and Bogdan Janicijevic.
For the Charger women, graduated seniors Hannah Cimpeanu and Elli Formentin each were named Scholar-Athletes, as were underclassmen Ellie Chawner, Helana Formentin, Sarah Hackman and Sophia Spinazze.
In order to receive ITA Scholar-Athlete Honors, an athlete must be an active member of their team and maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher for the 2020-21 school year. Seventy-eight percent of the Charger men's tennis team's roster earned scholar-athlete honors, and 66 percent of the Charger women's tennis team's roster was represented, an impressively high percentage for both squads.
Several Charger athletes are repeat winners of the Scholar-Athlete award. Katz graduates as a four-time honoree for the men's tennis team, earning the distinction in every year he played for the Chargers, and Conrad and Janicijevic earned their second award this season.
On the women's side, Hannah Cimpeanu earned her fourth Scholar-Athlete distinction as well, Elli Formentin received the honor for the third time, and Chawner and Spinazze each were recognized for the second straight year.