TEMPE, Ariz. - App State men's tennis put forth a solid year inside the classroom, as it earned the ITA All-Academic Team award for the 2018-19 season. Three Mountaineers in Alex Brea, Blake Carter, and Zion Heaven were named ITA Scholar-Athletes by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
All-Academic honors were awarded to 940 teams and thousands of scholar-athletes. As a team, the Black and Gold registered a 3.27 GPA with six student-athletes reaching at least a 3.2 GPA.
Brea is honored for the second straight season after putting forth a stellar GPA of 3.86 for the academic year. He graduated in May with a degree in finance and banking. The recent graduate led the team and won a career-high nine doubles contests, seven of which came with fellow senior, Campbell Stone. His best stretch came over six matches, as he went 5-1, while he put together a season-long three-match win streak.
Carter is recognized for his work in the classroom for a second straight season. The rising junior earned a 3.56 GPA for the year. Also, the Raleigh native was named a Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar. On the court, saw action at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles for the Black and Gold, while also appearing in two doubles matches during the 2018-19 campaign. He tallied three singles wins, all in straight sets.
In his first year with the Black and Gold, Heaven boasted a team-high 3.87 for '18-19. He finished second on the team in singles wins with six including a pair of victories in Sun Belt play. In doubles action, he was third on the team with six doubles wins.
Teams must earn a team GPA of 3.20 or higher, while ITA scholar-athletes must meet the following criteria: 1.) be a varsity letter winner, 2.) have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and 3.) have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including freshman through senior year).
