Seahawk Men's Tennis Named ITA All-Academic Team

2011 ITA All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes

Skillman, N.J. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's tennis team was selected as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team for the fourth consecutive season after notching a 3.33 cumulative team grade point average during the 2010-11 academic year, including a 3.36 team GPA for the spring semester.  St. Mary's was one of 28 Division III programs honored by the ITA.

The Seahawks were the only Capital Athletic Conference representatives on the ITA All-Academic Team list.  Along with being selected as an All-Academic Team, seven St. Mary's players picked up the distinction of being an ITA Scholar-Athlete.

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 eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year.

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 first-year thorough senior year).

Seniors Nick Ibello (Cockeysville, Md./Calvert Hall), Jeff Levy (Rockville, Md./T.S. Wootton), and Stoytch Nechev (Baltimore, Md./Dulaney); juniors Robbie Bourdon (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) and Elliot Russell (Freeport, Maine/Freeport); sophomore Kyle Feeley (Baltimore, Md./Mount Saint Joseph) and first-year Andrew Gear (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) all represented St. Mary's as ITA Scholar-Athletes.

Russell is a three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete while Levy and Feeley are repeat selections.

The Seahawks had a phenomenal 2010-11 season as St. Mary's finished with a 13-9 (5-2 CAC) record to set a school record for wins in a season as well as garnering the third straight 10+ win season under five-year head coach Derek Sabedra.  The Seahawks also notched the most conference wins in a season with five while Gear earned first team All-CAC at singles and second team All-CAC at doubles.