Three Men's Tennis Players Earn ITA Scholar-Athlete Nods
8/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Aug. 11, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Three USC Upstate men's tennis players were named ITA Scholar-Athletes on Friday by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for their exceptional work in the classroom during the 2007-08 school year, as seniors Sandy Franz (Duesseldorf, Germany/Berufskolleg Hilden) and Sebastian Gonzales-Orbegoso (Lima, Peru/Cambridge College) and sophomore Javier Tori (Lima, Peru/Markham College) each earned the award.
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must be a varsity letter winner, have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters.
The trio of players all made significant impacts on the program in 2008, led by First Team All-Atlantic Sun selection Franz. Franz, an Academic All-District First Team selection, is a Marketing major with a 3.90 GPA. He finished the season 19-12 in singles play for the Spartans, playing in the No. 1 singles slot and added an 18-13 mark in doubles play. The 37 combined wins were ninth in school history. Although he had to fight injuries throughout the spring to his shoulder and his ankle, Franz had one of the most memorable falls in school history, helping him earn the school's first Division I national singles ranking, beginning the spring 96th in the ITA rankings. In the fall, Franz defeated two players ranked in the nation's top 100 in the ITA rankings and won tournament singles titles at the USC Fall Invitational (`A' Flight) and the USC Upstate Fall Tennis Tournament (`A' Flight). He also won a doubles title with Airaldi at the Upstate Fall Tournament as well and advanced to the doubles semifinals at the ITA Mideast Regionals.
Gonzales-Orbegoso flirted all spring with breaking the school's career singles record, before falling two wins short of the mark. He finished his career with a 55-32 singles record, the second-most wins in school history and a 54-35 doubles mark. His 109 career combined wins are the second most in school history. In the classroom, the business management major posted a 3.83 GPA during the season and graduated with a 3.86 cumulative GPA.
Tori finished his sophomore year with a 20-11 overall singles record and a 22-8 doubles mark. The No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles player was able to finish the season with his 20 singles wins tied for 10th in school history and his 22 doubles wins tied for sixth. His 42 combined wins are third in the school record book. As a business administration major, Tori posted a 3.59 GPA during the 2007-08 academic year and carries a 3.53 cumulative GPA into his junior year.
Upstate finished the 2008 spring season 15-6 overall and 8-2 in Atlantic Sun Conference play, marking the eighth straight season the Spartans won more than 10 dual matches. The team finished third in the A-Sun in their first year of play in Division I after moving up from the Division II Peach Belt Conference at the end of the 2006-07 academic year.
