Viana Earns C-USA All-Academic Honors
April 20, 2007 | Men's Tennis
April 20, 2007
IRVING, Texas - Six men's tennis student-athletes were named to the 2006-07 Conference USA All-Academic Team, as announced by the league office. Memphis had two members on the team, while East Carolina, Rice, SMU and Tulsa all placed one representative on the inaugural squad. The all-academic team consists of six student-athletes that have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and have competed in 75 percent of their team's scheduled matches. Four juniors, a sophomore and a senior make up the 2006-07 All-Academic Men's Tennis team.
Memphis teammates Benedikt Fischer and Amrit Narasimhan were named to the all-academic team after a solid spring season. Fischer holds the best GPA of all student-athletes selected to the team at 4.00. His major is international business and he has been named to the Dean's List, the Tiger 3.0 Club and the Tiger Academic 30 (for having one of the 30 highest GPAs in the entire athletic department) in his first year in Memphis. Fischer is the Tigers' No. 3 singles player and one of their No. 1 doubles players.
Narasimhan holds a 3.84 GPA in sports administration and was also named to the Tiger 3.0 Club and the Dean's List his first semester in Memphis. Additionally, the junior was named to the Tiger Top 30 and was an NJCAA All-American in junior college. He is Memphis' No. 1 singles player and leads the Tigers with a 12-5 mark in dual season play and a 7-4 mark at No. 1 singles this spring.
Arnau Brugues of Tulsa, C-USA's top ranked singles player, also highlights the all-academic team. Brugues is a member of the Tulsa Dean's List and is also a C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member. He holds a 3.65 GPA in exercise and sport science and is 14-3 this spring at No. 1 singles. The junior was the champion of the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Tennis Championship in the fall, winning TU's and C-USA's first ever tennis national championship. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the country, after climbing as high at No. 2.
East Carolina placed Henrique Viana on the all-academic list. The junior has a 3.90 GPA in communications. Viana is a two-time Chancellor's List (4.0 GPA) selection, earning ECU's top academic standing in the fall of 2005 and 2006. He also was a Dean's List honoree in consecutive spring semesters (2005 and 2006). On the court he split a total of 10 singles matches (5-5) before suffering a shoulder injury which has limited play during the second half of the season.
Ben Harknett of Rice is the lone senior on the team and has a 3.28 GPA in economics and managerial studies. He is 12-7 at the No. 1 singles spot for the Owls this spring. A two-time C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll member and a 2006 All-Conference USA second team selection, Harknett won his first nine matches of the season, including a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory against then-No. 9 Ken Skupski of LSU. Harknett has an overall singles record of 16-10.
SMU's Alex Skrypko represents the Mustangs on the list with his 3.29 GPA in economics with an emphasis in finance applications. The junior is a two-time Commissioner's Honor Roll member and had a preseason ITA ranking of No. 36. Skrypko was named to the 2006 C-USA All-Conference first team and was also an ITA All-American Qualifier. Through the years at SMU, has worked his way up the lineup to play the No. 1 singles and doubles this season.
2006-07 C-USA MEN'S TENNIS ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Name, School, Class, GPA, Major
Henrique Viana, East Carolina, Junior, 3.90, Communications
Benedikt Fischer, Memphis, Sophomore, 4.00, International Business
Amrit Narasimhan, Memphis, Junior, 3.84, Sport Administration
Ben Harknett, Rice, Senior, 3.28, Economics/Managerial Studies
Alex Skrypko, SMU, Junior, 3.29, Economics with Finance App.
Arnau Brugues, Tulsa, Junior, 3.65, Exercise and Sport Science
