Men’s tennis team receives national academic honors

After orchestrating a record-breaking season on the tennis courts, Binghamton men’s tennis continued to receive national accolades - this time in the academic arena. The Bearcats earned distinction as one of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Teams and had a school-record seven individuals earn ITA Scholar-Athlete honors.

To receive team recognition, teams had to hold down a 3.2 or higher grade-point average. Binghamton had that and far more, attaining a department- and America East-best 3.69 GPA for the 2009-10 year, including a 3.74 during its championship spring season. In addition, seven Binghamton University student-athletes earned individual honors by producing a 3.5 or higher cumulative GPA. Only three Division I teams in the country had more individuals recognized (Stanford, Yale and Cornell with eight each).

The seven award-winning Bearcats are freshman Ruben Devos; sophomores Alper Alimoglu, Rafael Rodrigues and Gilbert Wong; juniors Andreas Danielsson and Sven Vloedgraven; and senior Moshe Levy.

Vloedgraven also was named America East male scholar-athlete of the year. Vloedgraven, who completed his junior year with a 3.90 GPA in accounting, earned America East Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive year and became the league’s first tennis player to qualify for the NCAA singles tournament in 2010.

Vloedgraven’s selection gives Binghamton three of the last four male scholar-athletes, after pole vaulter Rory Quiller won in both 2007 and 2008. Vloedgraven is the first tennis player to receive the America East honor since 1998.

The 2009-10 Bearcats produced the program’s third straight NCAA bid and sixth in the last eight years. The Bearcats (25-2) put together one of the most dominating seasons of any sport in school history, setting program records for wins in a season (25), consecutive wins (20), win percentage (.926), highest national ranking (No. 43 on April 13) and highest regional ranking (No. 2 in Northeast). Binghamton became the first America East school to win a point in the NCAA Championship when it lost to No. 24 Georgia Tech, 4-1, in the opening round. The Bearcats were ahead in the remaining two halted singles matches, meaning a likely 4-3 loss was a more accurate depiction of the balanced match.