La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's tennis team has earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Academic Award for the 2023-24 season, the organization has announced. It marks the 18th consecutive year the Eagles' women's squad has earned the award.
The ITA All-Academic Team Award is open to any ITA program with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale). All varsity letter winners are factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year.
UWL is one of five schools from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference ( WIAC) in earning this year's honor, joining UW-Eau Claire, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater.
Nine members of UWL's 2023-24 women's squad were named to the ITA Scholar-Athlete Team, including junior
Avery Nicholson of
Antigo (H.S.); sophomores
Izzy Schmiesing of
Spicer, Minn. (New London-Spicer) and
Kate Townsend of
Cottage Grove, Minn. (Park) and freshmen
Izabelle Brinkman of
New Richmond (H.S.),
Hannah Cady of
Delafield (Arrowhead),
Molly Heinert of
Winona, Minn. (H.S.),
Zoe Klicker of
Arlington Heights, Ill. (Prospect),
Lauren Lindow of
East Troy (H.S.) and
Maia Samuelson of
New Berlin (Eisenhower).
It is the second (2022-23, 2023-24) career ITA Scholar-Athlete Award for Schmeising and Townsend.
Six members of UWL's 2023-24 men's team earned ITA Scholar-Athlete accolades, including sophomores
Jack Hehli of
West Salem (H.S.),
Luke Hinchcliffe of
Stevens Point (SPASH) and
Brady Horstmann of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Xavier) and freshmen
Alex Aranda of
Fox Point (Nicolet),
Joe O'Flaherty of
La Crosse (Aquinas) and
Luke Spika of
Green Bay (Ashwaubenon).
It is the second (2022-23, 2023-24) career honor for Hehli, Hinchcliffe and Horstmann.
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status, a player must have accumulated a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year and be listed on the institutional eligibility form.
Bill Hehli begins his 30th year as head coach of the UWL men's and women's tennis teams in 2024-25.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of varsity collegiate tennis players. The ITA, which is comprised of nearly 1,250 men's and women's varsity coaches and 20,000 student-athletes from over 1,700 institutions, has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership, sportsmanship and athletic performance. For more information about the ITA program, please visit
https://www.wearecollegetennis.com/ita/.
