BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s and women’s tennis teams had a combined four members named Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athletes, it was announced by the organization Friday.
Invidiuals were required to maintain at least a 3.5 grade-point average for the 2005-06 academic year to receive the award.
Senior Ken Skupski and junior Kevin Dessauer received the honor for the second-straight year, while senior Eric DeRoche was named a scholar-athlete for the first time in his LSU career. A total of 14 men’s tennis players in the SEC have been named ITA Scholar-Athletes for the 2006 season.
“It’s great when our players succeed off the court, because that is what being a student-athlete is all,” said LSU men’s head coach Jeff Brown. “It says a lot about our programs and how our athletes understand the importance of academics.”
Sophomore Staten Spencer is one of 24 women from the SEC to be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete as she received the honor for the second-straight year after posting a perfect 4.0 GPA for the academic year. Spencer looks to make her comeback in 2007 after redshirting this season due to back surgery.
“I believe academics is as important if not more important than athletics,” Spencer said. “It’s really special to receive this honor. It was hard not being able to perform last year, but I’m glad I could contribute off the court by having a strong year in the classroom.”
LSU’s 2006 SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Men’s Tennis:
Eric DeRoche, Junior, Public Administration
Kevin Dessauer, Sophomore, Kinesiology
Ken Skupski, Junior, General Studies
Women’s Tennis:
Staten Spencer, Sophomore, Mass Communication