SIOUX FALLS, S.D. –A total of 10 Summit League tennis athletes, five men and five women, have been selected to the 2019 Academic All-League Team as voted on by a panel of Faculty Athletic Representatives and Sports Information Directors from the league's member institutions. Student-athletes were chosen for the honor based on their academic and athletic performances this past season. Western Illinois led with three total selections.
For six of the 10 award recipients, it was the first time earning the tennis Academic All-League accolade. The 2019 men's Summit League Player of the Year Brandon Ancona of Valparaiso, Drake's Tom Hands, Oral Robert's Barnabas Koncz, and Denver's Arisha Ladhani all received the honor for the second time in their respective careers.
To be eligible for the Academic All-League team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.30 (on a 4.0 scale), completed at least one full academic year at the current institution and participated in 50 percent of their team's competitions.
2019 SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN'S TENNIS ACADEMIC ALL-LEAGUE TEAM
Name |
School |
Year |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
Brandon Ancona* |
Valparaiso |
Jr. |
Belvidere, Ill. |
3.8 |
Computer Science |
Igor Kolaric |
Illinois State |
Sr. |
Birkenfeld, Germany |
3.76 |
Finance |
Tom Hands* |
Drake |
Sr. |
Fulbourn, England |
3.69 |
Environmental Science |
Davide Callegari |
North Dakota |
Sr. |
Padova, Italy |
3.9 |
Managerial Finance & Accounting |
Barnabas Koncz* |
Oral Roberts |
R-Jr. |
Pecs, Hungary |
3.8 |
Finance |
*Previous Academic All-League honoree
2019 SUMMIT LEAGUE WOMEN'S TENNIS ACADEMIC ALL-LEAGUE TEAM
Name |
School |
Year |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
Mary Bjelica |
Western Illinois |
So. |
Macomb, Ill. |
4.0 |
Engineering Physics |
Arisha Ladhani* |
Denver |
Sr. |
Vancouver, B.C. |
3.9 |
Marketing |
Laura Ballesteros |
Western Illinois |
Jr. |
Castellar Del Valles, Spain |
3.9 |
Forensic Psychology |
Masha Lobanova |
North Dakota |
Sr. |
Adelaide, Australia |
3.875 |
Economics |
Ana Bjelica |
Western Illinois |
So. |
Macomb, Ill. |
3.9 |
Biochemistry |
*Previous Academic All-League honoree
Follow The Summit League
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #ReachTheSummit | #SummitMTEN
ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
Through 36 years of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of nearly 115,000 at nine institutions, including three located in top 60 U.S. metro populations and two land-grant universities. Member institutions include: Denver (University of Denver), the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), Oral Roberts University, Purdue Fort Wayne (Purdue University Fort Wayne), the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced 12 NCAA Champions along with over 100 Academic All-Americans, nearly 125 All-America selections and numerous former student-athletes competing at the highest professional level. For more information about the league, visit www.thesummitleague.org website, follow The Summit League on Twitter @thesummitleague.
#SummitTEN