WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- For a second consecutive season, four members of the men's tennis team at Whitman College have received individual and team academic honors from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the governing body of collegiate tennis.
Akshay Shetty, Haroon Ullah, Clifford Mah and Ryan Cooper, each of whom graduated from Whitman in May, are among 42 NCAA Division III players from around the nation who earned ITA Scholar-Athlete awards for the 1998-99 season, the ITA announced this week. All four players captured the same award a year ago at the end of their junior seasons.
The ITA Scholar-Athlete award goes to juniors and seniors who letter in tennis while maintaining a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.
In addition, the Whitman men's tennis squad was one of 11 NCAA Division III teams that earned the All-Academic Team award for the past season. To qualify for the award, teams must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher on a 4.0 scale. All players who compete in one or more matches are averaged into the team grade point average.
A total of 15 members of the Whitman men's team played in at least one varsity match, according to coach Jeff Northam. "Of those 15, all but two players had grade point averages of 3.0 or higher," Northam said. "That's quite an accomplishment at a school where the academic standards are among the highest in the nation."
The Whitman men's team enjoyed one of its most successful seasons in years, winning its first 11 Northwest Conference dual matches. The Missionaries lost their final conference match to finish with a share of the regular season conference title.
Shetty, who played No. 1 singles for Whitman, also teamed with Ullah to form the best doubles tandem in the conference. Shetty and Ullah won all ten of the conference doubles matches they played and finished 15-4 on the season. In the final NCAA III poll, the Missionary duo was ranked No. 15 nationally and No. 4 in the west region.
In four seasons, Shetty and Ullah were nearly unbeatable within their conference, posting a 30-6 career record. They capped their senior seasons by winning all-conference honors. Shetty earned a spot on the first team for a fourth consecutive year. Ullah, who was slowed by a knee injury his last two seasons, earned second-team honors as a senior.
Both Shetty, an economics major from Bombay, India, and Ullah, a 1995 graduate of Richland (Wash.) High School, graduated cum laude from Whitman, which requires a minimum grade point average of 3.65. Ullah also graduated with honors in his politics major.
Cooper, an economics major, also graduated cum laude from Whitman. He played his prep tennis at Cascade High School in Everett, Wash. Mah, a biology-chemistry major at Whitman, played his prep tennis at Benson High School in Portland, Oregon.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, (509) 527-5902
Email: holden@whitman.edu