ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The Missouri Valley Conference has announced the men’s and women’s tennis Scholar-Athlete teams, honoring 27 student-athletes for their academic and athletic performances.  Sixteen student-athletes are making their return to the Scholar-Athlete team this year, with twelve receiving first team honors for at least the second year. Seniors Jessica Kunzelmann of Northern Iowa, Lutfiana Budiharto of Wichita State, Gabriela Demos of Drake, and Hannah Esker of Illinois State all are veterans to the Scholar-athlete team, this year marking their third appearance on the list. For the men, senior Gabe Nagy from Creighton, majoring in Chemistry and Pre-Med, is the lone men's honoree who has been named to the first team for the third consecutive year.

Scholar-Athlete honors require athletes to meet performance standards to be eligible for selection.  A student-athlete must hold a cumulative 3.2 GPA, be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, and have participated in 75% of the regular season or projected participation in the MVC Championship to earn a spot on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team.


2012 Men's Scholar-Athlete Team

Three-time scholar-athlete selection Gabe Nagy of Creighton University highlights the 2012 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete team, as announced by the league office Thursday. Nagy maintains a 3.67 GPA in Chemistry and Pre-Med and is the only men's selection this year to be named to the team three times.

Orhan Spahic of Southern Illinois, Matheus Pereira of Wichita State, Kyle Obermeire of Creighton, Jonathan Hadash of Drake, and JT Christian of Creighton all are two-time scholar athlete selections. Bradley's Ashton Kalhorn is the lone sophomore named to the men's first-team, maintaining a perfect 4.00 GPA in Chemistry and Business. Alexander Pelaez of Illinois State and Juan Diego Cuadrado round out the first team selections.

Junior Badr Cherradi and Sophomore Rafael Cuadrillero of Southern Illinois both receive honorable mention nods for the first time in their career.

Creighton racks up the most nominations, earning four spots on the first-team, and Southern Illinois right behind with three student-athlete selections. The four seniors, six juniors and two sophomores were honored at the annual Awards Banquet held on Thursday, April 26 at the State Farm MVC Tennis Championship in Omaha, Nebraska.


2012 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Team

Fifteen student-athletes were named to the 2012 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete team, announced on Thursday by the league office. Seniors Jessica Kunzelmann of Northern Iowa, Lutfiana Budiharto of Wichita State, Gabriela Demos of Drake, and Hannah Esker of Illinois State all are veterans to the scholar-athlete team, this year marking their third appearance on the list. Hannah Esker, majoring in Mathematics, highlights the list maintains a perfect 4.00 GPA.

Melanie Delsart of Southern Illinois and Creighton's Mary McMullan are no strangers to the team either, earning 2011 scholar-athlete honorable mention accolades last season. Finally, Creighton's Kelsey Schmidt, Northern Iowa's Chelsea Moore, Jessica Raatz of Evansville, Anita Lee of Southern Illinois, and Veronika Blaskova of Wichita State complete the first-team honors.

Three student-athletes were named honorable mention including junior Manca Krizman of Drake University. Sophomores Montse Blasco Fernandez of Wichita State and Carolina Abello of Illinois State also were named honorable mention.

Eight of the fifteen female student-athletes recognized are of senior status this season, two juniors, and five sophomores. The scholar-athlete award recipients were honored at the annual Awards Banquet held on Thursday, April 26 at the State Farm MVC Tennis Championship hosted by Creighton University.