GREENSBORO, N.C. – Henry Austin (Winterville, N.C.),
Brandon Hermes (West Hartford, Conn.),
Andres Mercedes (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic),
Rylan Tuten (Asheville, N.C.), and
Evan Wong (Greensboro, N.C.) represented the Guilford College Men's Tennis program as Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division-III Men's Scholar Athletes as announced by the organization last week.
The ITA's criteria for the distinction is having a grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.00 scale) for the academic year and being listed on the institutional eligibility form. This year, those qualifiers netted 1,115 Division III men's tennis honorees.
The lone freshman Quaker to receive the distinction, Austin swiftly became an impact member of the GC men's tennis squad. Playing primarily out of the #3 flight of singles and the second flight of doubles, he finished with a 7-29 combined record. Peaking with a handful of matches at the second flight of singles play, he enjoyed some success going 6-14 including 3-6 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) play although he had some rough patches when in a pairing at 1-15. A student in the Guilford Sport Management program, Austin completed the year with a 3.86 GPA.
A second-time All-ODAC pick in doubles, Hermes gets his second academic accolade of the summer after being named a Collegiate Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection back in May. A sophomore battling as one of the Quakers' top options, he enjoyed a quality year going 20-16 overall. Best when a part of a Guilford's leading tandem, alongside Mercedes, he racked up a 14-4 doubles mark that included a 7-2 record in league play. In singles he finished with a 6-12 record though he was better in conference action at 3-5. Academically, the Connecticut native notched a 3.71 GPA this year within the Cyber & Network Security program.
Not only GC's top player, but quite possibly one of the top players in the entire ODAC, Mercedes continues to thrive both on and off the court in Greensboro. An All-ODAC pick in both singles and doubles as well as a CSC Academic All-District honoree and a selection to the CSC Academic All-America national ballot, Mercedes continues as one of the most well-decorated Quaker tennis players in program history. Going 31-5 combined in the top flight of singles and doubles, he won the Methodist Men's Fall Invite Tournament in #1 singles. Rolling to a 17-1 overall mark and 8-1 record in ODAC play on his own then adding a 14-4 record and 7-2 conference mark in doubles, he finished with the top single-season winning percentage in program history in singles, at .944, a top-ten winning percentage in program history in doubles, at .778, and his overall winning percentage of .861 is the second-best in a season all-time. Studying Business Administration at GC, he finished with a flawless 4.0 GPA this academic year.
Tuten was Guilford's primary player out of the fourth flight of singles and third flight of doubles this season, accumulating a 15-18 overall record for the men's tennis squad, cracking the Quaker lineup in 18 of their 19 competitions. Kicking the usual trend, he was most effective against conference foes within the gauntlet that is ODAC tennis. The junior went just 6-9 overall in singles, but stood out with a 5-2 record in ODAC play. In doubles, he evenly split his results with a 9-9 mark overall, including 4-8 from the third flight and 3-3 against conference competition. Also a CSC Academic All-District honoree Tuten is in the Guilford Business Administration program and he was perfect this academic year with a 4.0 GPA.
The lone fourth-year member of the GC roster this season, and a CSC Academic All-District pick, Wong completed the campaign with a record of 8-24. Playing in 18 of the 19 competitions that the team participated in, he went 2-12 in singles play with both of his victories coming in league action, finishing 2-5 against such competition. Wong saw more success when in doubles play going 6-12 overall with a 3-3 league mark. Finalizing a degree in Computing Technology and Info Systems, Wong checked in with a GPA of 3.96 this year.
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