Baylor men’s tennis has been named an ITA All-Academic Team for the 11th consecutive year, announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Tuesday. The organization also named Jimmy Bendeck, Sven Lah, Bjoern Petersen and Johannes Schretter as ITA Scholar-Athletes.
Dating back to the 2008 season, Baylor has been recognized each year as a team and had at least two players recognized by the organization.
BU leads the Big 12 with four individuals honored while the team is one of only three along with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to earn team recognition.
“What an honor for the men’s tennis program -- it speaks to the culture that Baylor Athletics has established on and off the court,” head coach Brian Boland said. “When I accepted this job, it was clear to me that the Baylor administration, led by Mark Rhoades, is committed to young people maximizing their educational opportunities first and foremost. I am honored to step into a job where these young people value their education and prioritize the opportunity of being a student-athlete.”
To be eligible, the Bears needed a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above.
Individually, Bendeck is now a three-time honoree while Petersen earns his second honor. Lah and Schretter received their first ITA recognition after maintaining a 3.50 GPA for the recently completed academic year.
Bendeck is the fourth player in program history to be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete three times in his career. Petersen is now the 11th player in program history to be named at least twice.
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status, a player must be a varsity letterwinner, have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale) for the current academic year, and have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters.
