ITA Website
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse women's and men's tennis teams have earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Academic Award for the 2025-26 season, the organization announced Tuesday. It marks the 20th consecutive year the Eagles' women's squad has earned the award. UWL's men's team has earned the award eight times since the 2010-11 season.
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 four schools from the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) in earning this year's honor for both women and men, joining UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater.
UW-Oshkosh, UW-River Falls and UW-Stevens Point earned the award in women's tennis.
Twelve members of UWL's 2025-26 women's squad were named to the ITA Scholar-Athlete Team, including seniors
Laura Burger of
San Diego, Calif. (Patrick Henry) and
Anabela Gainizamanov of
Sussex (Hamilton); juniors
Izabelle Brinkman of
New Richmond (H.S.),
Zoe Klicker of
Arlington Heights, Ill. (Prospect),
Lauren Lindow of
East Troy (H.S.),
Shelby Roth of
Neenah (H.S.) and
Maia Samuelson of
New Berlin (Eisenhower); sophomores
Lily Jorgenson of
Racine (The Prairie School),
Morgan Perkins of
Woodbury, Minn. (Stillwater),
Caitlyn Stadter of
Mondovi (H.S.) and
Katarina Zrnic of
Greendale (H.S.) and freshman Macy Haas of
St. Francis, Minn. (H.S.).
It is the third career ITA Scholar-Athlete Award for Brinkman, Klicker, Lindow and Samuelson and second for Zrnic. Burger, Gainizamonov, Haas, Jorgenson, Perkins, Roth and Stadter earned their first career accolade.
Seven members of UWL's 2025-26 men's team earned ITA Scholar-Athlete accolades, including seniors
Cole Contardi of
Oconomowoc (Arrowhead),
Jack Hehli of
West Salem (H.S.),
Luke Hinchcliffe of
Stevens Point (SPASH) and
Brady Horstmann of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Xavier); sophomore
Tyler Schneider of
Whitefish Bay (H.S.) and freshmen Anderson Fortney of
Onalaska (La Crosse Aquinas) and
Kyle Hehli of
West Salem (H.S.).
It is the fourth career ITA Scholar-Athlete Award for
Jack Hehli and Hinchcliffe, third for Horstmann and second for Schneider. Contardi, Fortney and
Kyle Hehli earned their first career award.
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 32
nd year as head coach of the UWL men's and women's tennis teams in 2026-27.
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/.
