Men's Tennis Team and Two Bearcats Earn ITA Academic Recognition

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- The men's tennis team at Willamette University has received All-Academic Team status from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) for the 2017-18 season. In addition, two Willamette men's tennis players have earned ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition. The players are Colin Fisher (So., Caldwell, ID/Thomas Jefferson Charter School) and Luke Hiserman (Fr., Monterey, CA/Pacific Grove HS).

"I am very proud of the team earning All-Academic honors," Willamette Head Men's Tennis Coach Rick Wood said. "It is very important to me that we achieve this goal every year."

A total of 735 All-Academic Teams and 4,328 Scholar-Athletes were selected nationwide from men's tennis and women's tennis teams in all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA and junior colleges.

The All-Academic Team award was received with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or higher on a 4.0 scale during the academic year. All varsity letterwinners were included in each team's overall GPA.

Scholar-Athlete status was achieved if a player was a varsity letterwinner with a grade point average of at least 3.50 (4.0 scale) during the 2017-18 academic year. Athletes had to attend their current college or university for a least two semesters.

Willamette is a member of NCAA Division III, and the Bearcats compete in the Northwest Conference. In Division III, a total of 96 teams were chosen for the men's All-Academic list and 707 men's tennis players received Scholar-Athlete status. In the NWC, honors went to six men's teams and to 34 men's tennis athletes.

ITA Scholar-Athlete Award

Colin Fisher (So.) qualified for ITA Scholar-Athlete honors for the second consecutive year. He played in all 12 matches this spring in both singles and doubles competition. He played mostly at #3 singles (8 matches), but also played four matches at #2 singles. He teamed up with Aaron Schechter (Jr., Seattle, WA/James A. Garfield HS) to play at #1 doubles in every match.

Fisher also competed in all 14 matches as a freshman in 2016-17. In singles action, he played mostly at #5 singles (6 matches) and at #6 singles (6 matches). In addition, he played in all 14 matches at #2 doubles. Fisher has not declared a major.

Luke Hiserman (Fr.) played in all 12 matches this spring and saw action in singles and doubles. He was in the lineup at #5 singles nine times and at #6 singles three times. In doubles, all of his matches were at the #3 position, as he competed in eight matches with David Liang (Fr., Beijing, China/Bellevue Christian School, Wash.), in three matches with Ethan Frank (Fr., Lahaina, HI/Maui Preparatory Academy) and in one match with Endy Zarate (Jr., Salem, OR/McKay HS). Hiserman is majoring in Environmental and Earth Science.

Note:  Academic year listed for each player is for the 2017-18 season.