Men's Tennis Earns Academic Honors

The Ventura College men's tennis team has been named an All-Academic Team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association while five team members have been named Junior College Men's Scholar Athletes by the ITA in a release last week. The Pirates posted a 3.35 overall grade point average in the spring 2021 semester to be one of nine programs to be recognized nationally while Bledar Gashi, Lucas Gazic, Yuya Koide, Brodie Sodersten and Ethan Wang were among 57 student athletes to earn the individual honors from the national organization.

"Academia is a key aspect of the college tennis experience," stated the release by the ITA. "Collegiate tennis players add to the rich intellectual community found on college campuses across the nation. Our student-athletes continue to exceed expectations in the classroom and on the court."

To be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete, one must meet the following requirements:

• have a grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year
• be listed on the institutional eligibility form

To be named an ITA All-Academic Team, programs must meet the following requirements:

• have a team grade point average of 3.2 or above (on a 4.00 scale),
• all student-athletes included should be listed on the institutional eligibility form, and
• all varsity letter winners should be factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year

The Pirates finished a difficult Covid-shortened 2021 season with a 3-6 overall record, but were 3-0 against community college competition. VC played matches against NCAA Division I, II and III, as well as NAIA programs due to the lack of community college teams participating in the late-spring season.

See ITA Press Release