411OnTheForty: Texas tennis teams earn ITA All-Academic Team honors
The academic success of nine Texas tennis players has helped the men's and women's teams earn ITA All-Academic Team accolades from the International Tennis Association (ITA).
The nine were named ITA Academic Scholar-Athletes, but it took the entire team to be given such a high honor. The qualifications are challenging, especially for a sport in which the season is held in both the fall and spring, with a heavy amount of travel and a lot of matches on any given weekend. Teams must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, all student-athletes included must be eligible, and all varsity letter winners must be included in the cumulative GPA for the year.
Those who were named ITA Scholar-Athletes needed a minimum 3.5 GPA, along with being listed on the institutional eligibility form (the form coaches submit to be in the running to be named a ITA All-Academic Team).
On the men's side, three freshmen earned the honor: Eliot Spizzirri, Eshan Talluri, and Cleeve Harper, as did sophomore Nevin Arimilli. It was the first time each received such an honor.
On the women's team, five from the 2019-20 squad were named scholar--athletes: Bianca Turati, Adri Nagy, Marta Perez Mur, Lulu Sun and Lexi Ryngler earned the accolades.
In a shorted dual match season this spring, the women posted an 11-3 record and held the No. 4 ranking in the final Oracle/ITA Collegiate Division One team national rankings that were released on March 10. The men's team also was slotted at No. 4 after posting a 13-3 record that included a victory over then-No.1 Florida.
