2007 Capital One Academic ALL-SLC Tennis Teams Announced
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Andrey Kumantsov and Sam Houston State's Lata Assudani and were named 2007 Capital One Southland Conference Men's and Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year today, as the Southland Conference announces its All-Academic Tennis Teams.
Assudani, a native of Nagpur, India, posted a 3.86 grade point average in international business. Assudani, a 2007 CoSIDA Academic All-District VI team selection and a SLC All-Academic team selection last year, has been a named to the school's Dean's List and is a member of the Bearkat Student Athlete Advisory committee. She is a member of the women's tennis team that has the highest GPA of any of Sam Houston State's 16 varsity sports teams.
She set Sam Houston State's career records for most singles victories (57) and most doubles victories (56) in her three years at the school. She was a first-team All-Southland Conference selection at No. 1 doubles, as she earned the highest ITA regional ranking in doubles in Bearkat history (12th). She helped lead the Bearkat women's tennis program to the highest SLC regular-season finish (second), highest post-season tournament seed (No. 2) and best league won-lost record (9-2) in the Bearkat's 20 years of Southland Conference tennis.
Overall, Southeastern La., placed a league-best four-student athletes on the All-Academic squad, including Breda Kovac, a 2007 CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection and Nina Knaws, both earning their second-straight honor, with each posting a 3.93 GPA in business. They are joined by Jana Simurkova and Bonnie Phillips, as they both posted identical 3.5 GPAs in finance and accounting, respectively.
Sam Houston State placed three student-athletes on the All-Academic team, including Irina Sotnikova, who posted a 3.7 GPA in international business and Brooke Mills, who registered a 3.73 GPA in health and kinesiology.
UTSA placed two players on the All-Academic team, Sandra Kukla and Karen Scida. Kukula posted a 4.0 GPA in communications and Scida had a 3.8 GPA in chemistry.
Lamar placed Maria Gutierrez on the first-team, as she posted a 3.82 GPA in civil engineering and earned CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI honors, while A&M-Corpus Christi's Erika Iriarte posting a 3.81 GPA in art and Stephen F. Austin's Gabriela Gadena with a 4.0 GPA in hospitality administration.
On the men's side, Kumantsov, a senior from Tula, Russia, posted a 3.35 grade point average in finance.
Kumantsov, an SLC All-Academic team selection last year, was on the Dean's List in the Fall of 2006 and has maintained a semester GPA of 3.0 since arriving on campus in the fall of 2004. He was named 2007 Southland Conference Player of the Year after posting a perfect 5-0 singles record at the No. 1 position, in addition to posting a 4-0 record in doubles in league play. He is the highest ranked individual in school history at No. 31, as he posted a 16-2 record this spring.
Southeastern Louisiana and A&M-Corpus Christi placed a league-best two players on the squad. In addition to Kumantsov, the Islanders placed Raul Morant-Rivas, who earns his second-straight All-Academic team honor. Rivas, who has been on the school's Dean's List for four-consecutive semesters, posted a 3.54 GPA in music
The Lions place Ondrej Krivka, the 2006 Men's Tennis Student Athlete of the Year, and Vladimir Paunic, both of which earn CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine All-District VI honors. Krivka had a 3.9 GPA in management, while Paunic posted a 4.0 GPA in finance.
Texas Pan-American's Gary Bianco and Texas-Arlington's Alberto Agis round out the squad. Agis earns his second-straight All-Academic team honor, after posted a 3.68 GPA in international business. Bianco posted a 3.65 GPA in English, to earn his first-career honor.
The all-academic team honors student-athletes who were selected all-conference and/or named as a national all-academic recipient this year while also earning at least a 3.00 grade point average. Student-athletes must have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition. The student-athlete of the year is annually presented to the individual in each conference sport who achieves excellence in academics and athletics. Nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average to go along with superior athletics achievement.
2007 CAPITAL ONE All-ACADEMIC WOMEN'S TENNIS FIRST-TEAM
Student-Athlete -- School -- Class -- Hometown -- GPA -- Major
Lata Assudani * -- Sam Houston State -- Sr. -- Nagpur, India -- 3.88 -- International Business
Breda Kovac ^ -- Southeastern La. -- Jr. -- Ljubljana, Slovenia -- 3.93 --Business
Maria Gutierrez ^ -- Lamar -- So. -- San Antonio, Venezuela -- 3.82 -- Civil Engineering
Irina Sotnikova -- Sam Houston State -- So. -- Riga, Latvia -- 3.7 -- International Business
Sandra Kukla -- UTSA -- So. -- Apolda, Germany -- 4.0 -- Communications
Karen Scida -- UTSA -- So. -- Tucuman, Argentina -- 3.8 -- Chemistry
2007 CAPITAL ONE All-ACADEMIC WOMEN'S TENNIS SECOND-TEAM
Student-Athlete -- School -- Class -- Hometown -- GPA -- Major
Nina Knavs -- Southeastern La. -- Jr. -- Ljubljana, Slovenia -- 3.93 -- Business
Erika Iriarte -- A&M-Corpus Christi -- So. -- San Jeronimo Lidice, Mexico -- 3.81 -- Art
Brooke Mills -- Sam Houston State -- Sr. -- College Station, Texas -- 3.73 -- Health/Kinesiology
Jana Simurkova -- Southeastern La. -- Jr. -- Trencin, Slovak Republic -- 3.5 -- Finance
Gabriela Gadena -- Stephen F. Austin -- So. -- Sofia, Bulgaria -- 4.0 -- Hospitality Administration
Bonnie Phillips -- Southeastern La. -- Jr. -- Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand --- 3.5 -- Accounting
Monika Drabkova -- UTSA -- So. -- Prague, Czech Republic -- 3.88 -- International Business
*Voted the 2007 Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year
^ - CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Distric
2007 CAPITAL ONE ALL-ACADEMIC MEN'S TENNIS TEAM
Student-Athlete -- School -- Class -- Hometown -- GPA -- Major
Andrey Kumantsov * -- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi -- Sr. -- Tula, Russia -- 3.35 -- Finance
Ondrej Krivka ^ -- Southeastern La. -- Jr. -- Louny, Czech Republic -- 3.9 -- Management
Vladimir Paunic ^ -- Southeastern La. -- Jr. -- Novi Sad, Serbia -- 4.0 --Finance
Alberto Agis -- Texas-Arlington -- Sr. -- Pontevedra, Spain -- 3.68 -- International Business
Gary Bianco -- Texas Pan American -- Sr. -- Annecy, France -- 3.65 -- English
Raul Morant-Rivas -- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi -- Jr. -- Barcelona, Spain -- 3.54 -- Music
*Voted the 2007 Men's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year.
^ CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District