Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Complete NCAA Division III All-American Team
June 28, 2010-- North Central College men's tennis player
Sam Sweeney was one of 54 athletes named to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NCAA Division III All-American Team.
Sweeney was one of 26 athletes to earn All-American honors in singles and was the lone representative from the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The junior concluded the school year with a 23-5 record, including a 19-4 mark during the spring season, winning the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin No. 1 singles and doubles titles for the second consecutive season while also earning CCIW Player of the Year honors for the second straight year. Four of his five losses on the season came against nationally ranked opponents, compiling a 3-4 mark against players ranked in the ITA's final top 50.
The junior finished the 2010 campaign ranked 13th nationally and third within the Central Region and was named the ITA Central Region Player to Watch. Sweeney and his doubles partner
Matt Boguslawski were additionally ranked 16th in the Central Region's final rankings after posting an 18-3 record during the spring.
Sweeney becomes North Central's first ever All-American in men's tennis after qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Sweeney was among the 32 athletes chosen to the tournament hosted by Oberlin College on Mar. 28-30, where the junior advanced to the second round defeating Washington & Lee University's Hayden White, 6-3, 6-4, before falling to Middlebury College's Andy Peters, 6-2, 6-3.
To be eligible for ITA All-America honors an athlete must satisfy one of the following requirements: Earn a top 8 seed in the NCAA singles tournament. Win one round at the NCAA Singles tournament. Finish in the Top 20 in the final ITA Rankings. Win an ITA Fall Regional Tournament or win a first round match at the ITA National Small College Championships.
North Central finished the 2010 season with a 7-15 overall record and a 2-3 mark in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play before placing fourth at the CCIW Tournament.
