TEMPE, Ariz. – Guilford College and four Quakers’ student-athletes were among the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) 2017 All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes announced Tuesday. In all, 720 teams and 3,908 student-athletes across all five divisions of college tennis were honored.
The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale). All varsity letter winners factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2016 and spring 2017).
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must meet the following criteria:
– be a varsity letter winner
– have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year
– have been enrolled at their present school for at least two semesters (including freshman through senior year)
The Quakers’ men’s tennis team, coached by Dave McCain, posted a 3.35 team grade point average for the 2016-17 academic year. The following students earned ITA Scholar-Athlete commendation: Senior Levi Bruff (Lexington, N.C./Central Davidson), senior Mason Church (Wilkesboro, N.C./Millers Creek Christian), freshman Tate Godwin (Chapel Hill, N.C./Carolina Friends), and senior Aaron Smedley (West Chicago, Ill./Bartlett). Bruff, Church, and Smedley also earned the honor in 2014-15.
Senior Levi Bruff (Lexington, N.C./Central Davidson)
Senior Mason Church (Wilkesboro, N.C./Millers Creek Christian)
Freshman Tate Godwin (Chapel Hill, N.C./Carolina Friends)
Senior Aaron Smedley (West Chicago, Ill./Bartlett)