The Missouri Valley Conference has announced the men’s and women’s tennis Scholar-Athlete teams, highlighting 27 student-athletes named to the honor.  On the men’s side, Wichita State's Adrian Chermaci earned his third selection to the Scholar-Athlete first team, while Creighton's Gabe Nagy and Illinois State’s Filip Miljevic are two-time first team honorees.  The women’s Scholar-Athlete team also featured a three-time selection in Kate Chybowski of Evansville, plus four repeat first team selections in Drake's Gabriela Demos, Hannah Esker of Illinois State, UNI's Jessica Kunzelmann and Lutfiana Budiharto of Wichita State.

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.

2011 Men's Scholar-Athlete Team

Three-time scholar-athlete selection Adrian Chermaci of Wichita State and repeat first team award winners Gabe Nagy of Creighton and Illinois State's Filip Miljevic highlight the 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Team, as announced by the league office Thursday.  Chermaci, a senior, carries a 3.74 GPA in Sports Management for the Shockers, while Nagy holds a 3.79 GPA in Chemistry/Pre-Medicine and Miljevic maintains a 3.75 GPA in Finance/International Business at Illinois State.  A total of 10 student-athletes outline this year's first team academic honorees.

Creighton's JT Christian, Kyle Obermeier and Billy Paluch each earned their first spot on the Scholar-Athlete team with.  Christian holds a 3.66 GPA in Exercise Science, while teammates Obermeier (3.72 GPA) and Paluch (3.81 GPA), both Business majors, also represent the Bluejays on the first team. 

Drake and Wichita State each had two selections to the Scholar-Athlete first team.  The Bulldogs are represented by Mauricio Ballivian (3.22 GPA, Entrepreneurship/Marketing) and Jonathan Hadash (3.84 GPA, Accounting), while Matheus Pereira (3.80 GPA, International Business) joins his Shocker teammate Chermaci on the first team.  Orhan Spahic of Southern Illinois rounds out the first team selections, as Spahic holds a 3.93 GPA in Business Management.   

Bradley's Juan Cuadrado, Alexander Pelaez of Illinois State and Falk De Beenhouwer of Southern Illinois were chosen as honorable mention selections.  The four seniors, four juniors and five sophomores will be honored at the annual Awards Banquet held on Thursday, April 28 at the State Farm MVC Tennis Championship in St. Louis, Mo.

2011 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Team

Three-time selection Kate Chybowski of Evansville plus four repeat first team selections in Drake's Gabriela Demos, Hannah Esker of Illinois State, UNI's Jessica Kunzelmann and Lutfiana Budiharto of Wichita State highlight the women’s first team selections.  The team, which is comprised of 10 first-team picks and four honorable mentions, was announced on Thursday by the league office.

Chybowsi, a senior on the Purple Aces squad, is majoring in Biology and holds a 3.90 GPA, while Demos carries a 3.71 GPA in Business for the Bulldogs.  Esker, a junior on the Redbirds, carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in Actuarial Science, while Kunzelman (3.97 GPA, Finance) and Budihardo (3.39 GPA, Exercise Science) round out the repeat first team selections.

Creighton's Leesa Cadwallader, Sarah Cadwallader and Lauren Mastro each earned their first spot on the Scholar-Athlete first team.  Leesa Cadwallader holds a 3.70 GPA in Occupational Therapy, while Sarah Cadwallader (3.66 GPA, Psychology) and Mastro (3.94 GPA, Journalism) also represent the Bluejays on the first team.

Laia Gonzalez-Garrido of Northern Iowa was named to the first team after being an honorable mention selection in 2010.  Gonzalez-Garrido, a senior studying French, holds a 3.73 GPA for the Panthers.  Senior Ashton Schwerin of Evansville rounds out the first team selections, as Schwerin holds a 3.69 GPA in Biology.

Southern Illinois placed three student-athletes on the honorable mention team, while Creighton picked up the remaining selection.  Salukis’ Melanie Delsart receives her first honor with her 3.68 GPA in Business, while Vishakha Sheoran (3.34 GPA, Psychology) and Anastacia Simons (4.0 GPA, Pre-Medicine) also represent Southern Illinois on the honorable mention squad.  Mary McMullan of Creighton received the final selection of the Scholar-Athlete honorable mention team with her 3.66 GPA in Business.

2011 Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete First Team

Name                                     School                    Yr.           GPA           Major                                                                   Hometown

Mauricio Ballivian                Drake                     SR            3.22           Entrepreneurship/Marketing                         Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Adrian Chermaci #+            Wichita State        SR            3.74           Sports Management                                         Brasov, Romania

JT Christian                            Creighton              JR             3.66           Exercise Science                                               Lanexa, Kan.

Jonathan Hadash                  Drake                     JR             3.84           Accounting                                                         Lapid, Israel

Filip Miljevic +                      Illinois State           SR            3.75           Finance/International Business                      Novi Sad, Serbia

Gabe Nagy +                          Creighton              JR             3.79           Chemistry/Pre-Medicine                                 Manhattan, Kan.

Kyle Obermeier                   Creighton              JR             3.72           Business                                                              North Platte, Neb.

Billy Paluch                            Creighton              SO           3.81           Business                                                              Rapid City, S.D.

Matheus Pereira                  Wichita State        SO           3.80           International Business                                      Sao Paulo, Brazil

Orhan Spahic                        Southern Illinois   SO           3.93           Business Managment                                        Sarajevo, Bosnia

2011 Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention

Name                                     School                    Yr.           GPA           Major                                                                   Hometown

Juan Cuadrado                      Bradley                  SO           3.29           Business Managment & Administration        Almeria, Spain

Falk De Beenhouwer           Southern Illinois   SR            3.32           Economics                                                          Kapellen, Belgium

Alexander Pelaez                 Illinois State           SO           3.54           Business Administration                                   Havana, Cuba

+ 2010 First-Team; # 2009 First-Team

2011 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete First Team

Name                                     School                    Yr.           GPA           Major                                                   Hometown

Lutfiana Budiharto +            Wichita State        JR             3.39           Exercise Science                               Jakarta, Indonesia

Leesa Cadwallader               Creighton              SR            3.70           Occupational Therapy                      Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Sarah Cadwallader               Creighton              SR            3.66           Psychology                                         Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kate Chybowski +#              Evansville               SR            3.90           Biology                                                Appleton, Wis.

Gabriela Demos +                Drake                     JR             3.71           Business                                              Chesterfield, Mo.

Hannah Esker +                    Illinois State           JR             4.0             Actuarial Science                              Effingham, Ill.

Laia Gonzalez-Garrido ^      Northern Iowa      SR            3.73           French                                                 Vinaros, Spain

Jessica Kunzelmann +          Northern Iowa      JR             3.97           Finance                                               Bollschweil, Germany

Lauren Mastro                      Creighton              SR            3.94           Journalism                                          Duluth, Ga.

Ashton Schwerin                  Evansville               SR            3.69           Biology                                                Madison, Wis.

2011 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention

Name                                     School                    Yr.           GPA           Major                                                   Hometown
Melanie Delsart                    Southern Illinois   SO           3.68           Business                                              Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mary McMullan                    Creighton              JR             3.66           Business                                              Boone, Iowa

Vishakha Sheoran                Southern Illinois   SR            3.34           Psychology                                         New Delhi, India

Anastacia Simons                 Southern Illinois   SO           4.0             Pre-Medicine                                     Port Elizabeth, South Africa

+ 2010 First-Team; ^ 2010 Honorable Mention; # 2009 First-Team