DELAND, Fla. – The Stetson tennis program has added more individual and team honors to its wealth of summer accolades.  Recent graduate Maksim Levanovich (Minsk, Belarus) earned a second postgraduate scholarship, 11 student-athletes were named ITA Scholar-Athletes, and both the men’s and women’s squads earned ITA All-Academic status.

Levanovich, who has already received a number of on and off court awards in his career, was one of only 58 student-athletes competing in spring sports to earn a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship from the NCAA. Currently working in the banking industry in Florida, the former Hatter is just the second to ever earn the accolades at Stetson. 

To qualify for said scholarship, student-athletes must excel academically and athletically, and be in their final year of eligibility. Student-athletes must maintain at least a 3.2 grade-point average and be nominated by their institution’s faculty athletics representative.

“For Max to receive both the A-Sun and NCAA postgraduate scholarship speaks volumes on the totality of his accomplishments, both in the classroom and on the court,” said Stetson Director of Tennis Pierre Pilote.  “Max definitely excelled academically and athletically this year, and we couldn’t be prouder.”

On the court, Levanovich finished ranked number 15 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Southeast rankings.  He helped lead Stetson to a team ranking of ninth in the region in the ITA’s June 6 list.

The ITA’s All-Academic Team awards are give to those program’s that have a cumulative team GPA of 3.20 or above.  This marks the fourth consecutive year that the men’s team has made the list, and its seventh overall. It is the third time that the women’s squad has made the list.

“The 2011-2012 tennis teams had their best academic year in program history,” Pilote said. “To have both programs working at this level of excellence both in the classroom and on the court is a testament to each team member’s hard work and dedication on being the best.”

In addition to the team awards, 11 Stetson tennis players were also named ITA Scholar-Athletes after achieving GPAs of 3.50 or higher during this past academic year.

Men’s Honorees

Erik Halaj (Hoover, Ala.)

Chris Hyma (Miami, Fla.)

Maksim Levanovich

Dane Moran (Morpeth, Australia)

Hans Adrian Riseng (Oslo, Norway)

Njal Stene (Oslo, Norway)

 

Women’s Honorees

Clarke Tatje (Eustis, Fla.)

Diana Bukajeva (Riga, Latvia)

Jen Miller (Tampa, Fla.)

MayaBlue Stauffer-MacDowell (Asheville, N.C.)

Sara Lazarevic (Calgary, Alta.)

“The 2008-2009 recruiting class is the first to achieve the ‘academic grand slam,’ or four consecutive years as an ITA All-Academic Team,” Pilote concluded. “Maksim, Njal, Dane, Chris, and Cesare Gallo – who graduated a year early – should be commended for their excellence. Graduates Christopher Swanteson, who was here for three of the four years, Mark Mestan and Alexander Hackett for two of the four, and Filip Kricka for one year, should also be recognized.”