The Baylor men's tennis team placed a conference-best eight student-athletes on the Academic All-Big 12 Team, including a league-leading seven players on the first team, Big 12 Conference officials announced Tuesday.
Jimmy Bendeck, Juan Benitez, Luke De Jong, Will Little, Johannes Schretter, Max Tchoutakian and Tyler Stayer were selected to the Academic All-Big 12 first team. The Bears have now had at least two honorees in 15 consecutive seasons. Meanwhile, Sam May was honored with a second-team selection
Tchoutakian and Little made the Academic All-Big 12 First Team for the second consecutive year. Tchoutakian, a marketing major, is the No. 43 ranked singles player. Tchoutakian is 15-2 in dual match play this year, and has nine wins over ranked opponents.
Little, a redshirt sophomore accounting major from Joplin, Mo., teams with Benitez as the No. 17 ranked doubles pairing in the country. He is 12-7 in dual match play this season, and 5-2 in his last 10 matches.
It is the first time Benitez, De Jong, Schretter and Stayer have made the Academic All-Big 12 first team. Benitez, a communications studies major, is the No. 14 ranked singles player in the country. He owns a 16-6 dual-match singles record. He has 10 wins over ranked opponents this season. The Medellin, Colombia, product, has had major success in doubles moving all the way up to No. 17 alongside Little.
Schretter, a pre-business major, boasts a 19-2 dual match play record this year. Stayer is a political science major, who has stepped into the six spot on numerous occasions this season. De Jong is a senior biology major from Rock Rapids, Iowa.
May, a senior health, kinesiology and leisure Studies major from Waco, Texas, was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Second Team. May is 1-0 in dual match play this season.
To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of their team's scheduled contests. First-team honorees have a 3.20 GPA or higher. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.
Next up, Baylor will play in the Big 12 Championship, on Thursday at 10 a.m. The Bears are the third seed for the event and will face sixth-seeded Texas Tech in the opening round.
