ITA RELEASE | ITA SCHOLAR ATHLETES | ITA ALL–ACADEMIC TEAMS
TEMPE, Ariz. – The Suffolk men's tennis team and a quartet of players – seniors Ben Bricker, Hasan Esrawi and Haik Semerdjian and sophomore Juan Velasquez – picked up academic accolades from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). The Rams were named an All-Academic Team, while the foursome of Bricker, Esrawi, Semerdjian and Velasquez earned Scholar-Athlete distinction, the national organization announced.
Each season the ITA recognizes students who maintain a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and earn varsity letter status.
Esrawi earned the feat for the fourth consecutive campaign, taking home the recognition each year in his collegiate career, which is a first for any member of the Suffolk men's tennis team. Bricker, Semerdjian and Velasquez were first time honorees.
This year's four selections are the most in a single season for Suffolk in the program's history. Overall, Suffolk has seen 15 student-athletes combine for 19 ITA Scholar-Athletes in its history book and has seen at least one Ram take home the feat in each of the last five seasons.
In 2022, 940 Division III student-athletes were named ITA Scholar-Athletes including 21 representatives from the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) with Endicott (5), Nichols (8) and Roger Williams (4) joining the Rams on the national list. To view a complete list of 2021-22 ITA Scholar-Athletes, click here.
Team wise, the blue-and-gold's rackets picked up the program academic accolade for the second straight season and third time overall. It marked the first time in the Rams record book that the squad repeated as an ITA All-Academic Team.
To be named an ITA All-Academic Team, programs must have a team grade point average of 3.2 or above on a 4.0 scale and all varsity letter winners should be factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year. Suffolk's eight-player roster compiled a 3.291 GPA.
Suffolk is one of four CCC programs to be acknowledged for its academic excellence with Endicott, Nichols and Roger Williams joining the Rams on the 125-school list of NCAA Division III programs that received the recognition this year. For a complete list of 2021-22 honorees, click here.