TEMPE, Ariz. (July 22, 2024) – The UIC men's and women's tennis programs continue to shine in the classroom. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) named both tennis programs to its All-Academic teams Monday afternoon. As well, 10 Flames tennis scholar-athletes received ITA Scholar-Athlete distinction.
 
This is the sixth year in a row the women's tennis program has been named an All-Academic team and the fourth year in a row and the fifth time in the last six years UIC's men's program has received the honor. To receive selection of the award, teams must have a team-GPA of 3.2 or higher. Both the men's (3.61) and women's (3.47) programs surpassed the mark in 2023-24.
 
"UIC is a prestigious academic institution located in the great city of Chicago," said men's tennis head coach Jovan Parlic. "I am proud that our scholar-athletes represent us at the highest level in the classroom as well as on the tennis court. Being a scholar-athlete requires excellence both on and off the court and receiving this honor from the ITA proves that the Flames achieve just that."

"We are proud and honored to be an ITA All-Academic Team and have our ITA Scholar-Athletes recognized," said women's tennis head coach Elizabeth Lumpkin Robinson. "We appreciate their hard work and dedication to being excellent students, athletes and people."
 
In addition to the All-Academic team selections, the ITA named five Flames men's tennis scholar-athletes and five women's tennis scholar-athletes to its Scholar-Athlete teams. Athletes must have had a GPA of at least 3.5 during the 2023-24 academic year to be considered for the ITA Scholar-Athlete team
 
On the men's side, recent graduates Edoardo Bottino (Genoa, Italy/Queens University), Gustavo Schwebel (Salvador, Brazil/Colegio Antonio Vieira) and Artem Iermolov (Las Vegas, Nev./Clark) plus rising sophomores Mihailo Savic (Smederevska Palanka, Serbia/Sportska Gimnazija) and Robinson Le Meur (Evreux, France/Sciences Po Bordeaux) received the honor. 2024 marked Schwebel's third time and Iermolov's second being named ITA Scholar-Athletes.
 
On the women's side recent graduates Agnes Gustafsson (Paris, France/Akademi Båstad Gymnasium), Tamara Malazonia (Birmingham, United Kingdom/St. Paul's School for Girls) and Zara Ryan (Dublin, Ireland/Utah State) alongside rising seniors Camille Belberka (Saint-Denis-lès-Bourg, France/Seward County Community College (Kan.) and Mayu Ushio (Yamaguchi, Japan/Miami University) were named to the 2024 ITA Scholar-Athlete team. This was Gustafsson and Malazonia's fourth time receiving the honor.
 
The men's tennis program finished its inaugural season as an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference at 10-11 with a 2-8 record in conference play. The program won six matches at home in 2024. On the women's side, UIC finished 2024 with a 10-11 overall record and a 5-3 conference record. The Flames won a match at the MVC Championship for the first time in program history and advanced to the conference semifinals.
 
Fans are strongly encouraged to support NIL opportunities for UIC student-athletes through contributions to The Chicago Collective.
 
For more information on the UIC tennis programs, fans are encouraged to visit UICFlames.com, or follow the Flames on social media through X (@UIC_MTEN, @UICWTEN and @UICFlames).