DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Showcase Treasure Trove of Academic Awards
8/4/2021 12:36:00 PM | ATHLETICS, ACADEMICS
DePaul's scholastic powerhouse garners national and conference honors
CHICAGO – The veritable treasure trove of postseason academic awards presented to DePaul's student athletes in the last several months is quite astounding when you stack them all up together.
It is equally amazing when you see the sheer volume of accolades pouring into Lincoln Park despite Blue Demons on every team spending countless hours in practice, competition and traveling.
And yet, no matter the extreme demands put on their time and schedules---these highly motivated collegians rarely missed an opportunity to shoot for straight-A's.
Last week, Aspasia Avgeri made history when the BIG EAST Player of the Year in women's tennis was honored as the BIG EAST Overall Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference.
She became the first DePaul student athlete male or female to ever win the prestigious award and the first female tennis player in BIG EAST history to earn the top honor.
In addition, the graduate student from Athens, Greece also took home the BIG EAST Female Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award. Men's tennis player Fran Tonejc was DePaul's BIG EAST Male Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award winner.
Avgeri was awarded $4,000 towards graduate or professional studies for her two honors while Tonejc received $2,000.
Tonejc also earned a $10,000 NCAA postgraduate scholarship from the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee in recognition of his excellence in athletics and academics.
DePaul's academic showcase is just getting warmed up.
The BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards are presented to one student athlete in each BIG EAST-sponsored sport based on academic credentials, athletic accolades or performances and volunteer service to the community.
Led by Avgeri (women's tennis), Rutendo Chimbaru (women's indoor track & field), Ashton Colaire (men's indoor track & field), Lexi Held (women's basketball) and Vito Tonejc (men's tennis), DePaul's five winners tied for the most in the BIG EAST.
A record-setting total of 189 Blue Demon student-athletes were recognized on the BIG EAST All-Academic Team, surpassing the 177 in 2018-19.
Coach Marisa Arce's women's tennis program was one of 22 teams across the BIG EAST Conference honored with the 2020-21 Team Academic Excellence Award. The award goes to the highest collective grade-point averages in each conference sport. The Blue Demons' eye-popping 3.930 team GPA was barely second overall to Georgetown men's tennis (3.931).
In addition to Avgeri's personal treasure trove of postseason accolades including CoSIDA Academic All-District, coach Arce's team compiled a strong showing in the classroom once again earning Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team and Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 14th year in a row with that 3.93 GPA.
Along with the highest cumulative GPA at DePaul, women's tennis posted the best Spring Quarter GPA of any squad with a 3.95 mark.
Individually, all nine student athletes on the women's tennis team---Lenka Antonijevic, Aspasia Avgeri, Hristina Djokic, Marija Jovicic, Yuliya Kizelbasheva, Alina Kuzmenkova, Valentina Martin, Kaya Rand and Maddie Yergler---were recognized as ITA Scholar Athletes with GPAs of 3.5 or better. The program earned an ITA Team Academic Award for the 14th time in a row.
"These academic accomplishments say a lot about our student-athletes' grit and resilience," said Associate Athletics Director Kate O'Brien who heads up the academic advising department. "Our teams had to pause at times in dealing with COVID-19 but that did not slow them down one bit with their classwork.
"It says a lot about the strong culture our coaches have created surrounding academics. This is just what we do."
If O'Brien were to encapsulate a theme for her department, it would be something like: Athletics Academic Advising---Where Excellence is the Norm.
"Our coaches and players compete for top grades just as hard as in their sports competing to win games," O'Brien said. "We have a long and proud tradition of academic excellence that has been created and sustained by design.
"The coaches want to win everything. They want to have the highest team GPA at DePaul. They want to win the Community Service Cup. Matt Brothers and Doug Bruno are the most competitive when it comes to community service."
According to O'Brien, the top five team GPAs are women's tennis with 3.930, men's tennis at 3.901 followed by women's soccer (3.772), volleyball (3.713) and softball (3.700).
"In DeWayne's (athletics director DeWayne Peevy) opening press conference after being named the new athletics director, he spoke right away about academics," O'Brien said. "That message is so important coming from the top-down. It kept our history of academic excellence front and center.
"The 189 Blue Demons named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team was a school record. They represented a whopping 87 percent of the student-athlete population---among the highest percentage of all BIG EAST schools."
Alongside O'Brien working behind the scenes in 2020-21 sustaining this academic dynasty are assistant directors Ben Gutman and Terri Sullivan plus graduate assistants India Steward and Emmy Sehmann and advisor Richie Fugiel.
"We are just as competitive as the coaches when it comes to academic success, O'Brien said. "It's fun to win, and I want to win---every time.
"It all starts with our coaches recruiting a lot of outstanding students and high academic achievers when they come in. Hopefully, we can add even more to their academic performance."
That is evident as the DePaul golf team picked up All-Academic Team honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) for the 13th consecutive year.
The GCAA announced the 2020-21 NCAA DI All-American Scholars presented by Srixon/Cleveland Golf and DePaul was represented on the academic list by Perry Chong, Noah Kolar and Artemiy Yalovenko.
Chong, Kolar and Yalovenko each earned All-American Scholars recognition for the first time in their careers. They participated in 40 percent of his team's competitive rounds, had a stroke-average under 76.0, maintained a minimum cumulative career GPA of 3.2 and were of high moral character in good standing at their university.
DePaul men's tennis had all nine team members (Christopher Casati, Phasu Sirinit, Spanjaard, Fran and Vito Tonejc, Tripp Tuff, Luuk Wassenaar and Tamas Zador) named as 2021 ITA Scholar Athletes with each posting a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
The Blue Demons were also recognized with an ITA Team Academic Award for 13th time in the last 14 years after coach Matt Brothers' program posted a 3.901 team GPA.
Boris Spanjaard was voted CoSIDA NCAA Division I Men's At-Large Academic All-District First Team by members of the college sports information directors' national association.
Fran Tonejc won the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award and also earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
The All-BIG EAST First Team selection was also singled out with both the ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award and the Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award for the Midwest Region.
That has only happened one other time in program history back in 2012 when Matija Palinic also doubled up on the two awards. The BIG EAST champion "Band of Brothers" also won the ITA Midwest Region Community Service Award for the fourth time in the last five years.
BIG EAST Player of the Year Vito Tonejc was voted DePaul's Male Player of the Year by his fellow student athletes.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its annual academic awards with the Blue Demons earning the Team Academic Award while Brendan Favre, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Jason Malonga, Courvoisier McCauley and Pantelis Xidias were named to the Honors Court.
The NABC Honors Court recognizes outstanding efforts in the classroom each season for all NCAA divisions and the NAIA. Honors Court honorees must be a junior or senior academically with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher.
The Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2020-21 season. The Blue Demons claimed the recognition for the fourth straight year and the fifth time in the last six years.
"At DePaul, we focus on the intentional development of the student, person and athlete," Peevy said. "Three of our five guiding principles focus on Academic Excellence, Championship Experience along with Developing and Equipping our Future Leaders.
"Every Blue Demon has the opportunity to excel in the classroom in whatever field of study they choose. They can be a transformational servant leader in the community and also be an outstanding performer in athletic competition.
"Aspasia Avgeri, Rutendo Chimbaru, Ashton Colaire, Lexi Held and Vito Tonejc all exemplify the true meaning of a student athlete and help show others that DePaul University is an Everything School where you can Dream Big with no restrictions on success.
"I am so proud of Aspasia for her latest achievement and all five of our BIG EAST Sport Excellence Award winners."
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the recipients of the 2021 NCAA Division I All-Academic Awards.
The DePaul women's program finished with a cumulative team GPA of 3.609 which ranked in the top 35 of all Division I team GPAs. The men's team posted a cumulative team GPA of 3.389.
The women's team has now earned the honor for the 13th straight year while the men's team has claimed the recognition for the seventh consecutive season and 12th time in the last 13 years.
Earning individual awards on the women's side were Tori Carroll, Rebecca Chouinard, Mackenna Orie and Kiersten Walker while Adam Nelson and Brendan van Voorhis were the men's individual honorees.
Women's basketball standout Lexi Held was named CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team and the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year for her sport. Held and Sonya Morris were selected to the Division I-AAA ADA national Scholar-Athlete Team.
DePaul volleyball earned the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 14th consecutive year and the 15th time in the last 16 years.
The Blue Demons brought home Honor Roll distinction after maintaining a team GPA in the top 20 percent of all Division I programs---closing out the unprecedented year with a 3.713 cumulative team GPA.
"I can't wait to share these accomplishments with the entire university community," said Faculty Athletics Representative and Kinesiology professor Anna Marie Frank. "Being very proud of our student-athletes' commitments to their academics is such an understatement---it is more like amazement at what they are able to accomplish while competing at the Division I level.
"Over my 28 years teaching at DePaul, I have been vividly aware of the significance that our coaches place on their athletes' attendance, classwork and overall grades. I am sure it helps the students navigate what could be an overwhelming conflict between their team and their classes. Not At DePaul.
"As FAR, I am so proud to be part of an athletics program that is committed to a holistically positive experience for our student athletes. We are actually meeting on a regular basis about how to get even better at it."
It is equally amazing when you see the sheer volume of accolades pouring into Lincoln Park despite Blue Demons on every team spending countless hours in practice, competition and traveling.
And yet, no matter the extreme demands put on their time and schedules---these highly motivated collegians rarely missed an opportunity to shoot for straight-A's.
Last week, Aspasia Avgeri made history when the BIG EAST Player of the Year in women's tennis was honored as the BIG EAST Overall Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference.
She became the first DePaul student athlete male or female to ever win the prestigious award and the first female tennis player in BIG EAST history to earn the top honor.
In addition, the graduate student from Athens, Greece also took home the BIG EAST Female Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award. Men's tennis player Fran Tonejc was DePaul's BIG EAST Male Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award winner.
Avgeri was awarded $4,000 towards graduate or professional studies for her two honors while Tonejc received $2,000.
Tonejc also earned a $10,000 NCAA postgraduate scholarship from the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Committee in recognition of his excellence in athletics and academics.
DePaul's academic showcase is just getting warmed up.
The BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards are presented to one student athlete in each BIG EAST-sponsored sport based on academic credentials, athletic accolades or performances and volunteer service to the community.
Led by Avgeri (women's tennis), Rutendo Chimbaru (women's indoor track & field), Ashton Colaire (men's indoor track & field), Lexi Held (women's basketball) and Vito Tonejc (men's tennis), DePaul's five winners tied for the most in the BIG EAST.
A record-setting total of 189 Blue Demon student-athletes were recognized on the BIG EAST All-Academic Team, surpassing the 177 in 2018-19.
Coach Marisa Arce's women's tennis program was one of 22 teams across the BIG EAST Conference honored with the 2020-21 Team Academic Excellence Award. The award goes to the highest collective grade-point averages in each conference sport. The Blue Demons' eye-popping 3.930 team GPA was barely second overall to Georgetown men's tennis (3.931).
In addition to Avgeri's personal treasure trove of postseason accolades including CoSIDA Academic All-District, coach Arce's team compiled a strong showing in the classroom once again earning Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team and Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 14th year in a row with that 3.93 GPA.
Along with the highest cumulative GPA at DePaul, women's tennis posted the best Spring Quarter GPA of any squad with a 3.95 mark.
Individually, all nine student athletes on the women's tennis team---Lenka Antonijevic, Aspasia Avgeri, Hristina Djokic, Marija Jovicic, Yuliya Kizelbasheva, Alina Kuzmenkova, Valentina Martin, Kaya Rand and Maddie Yergler---were recognized as ITA Scholar Athletes with GPAs of 3.5 or better. The program earned an ITA Team Academic Award for the 14th time in a row.
"These academic accomplishments say a lot about our student-athletes' grit and resilience," said Associate Athletics Director Kate O'Brien who heads up the academic advising department. "Our teams had to pause at times in dealing with COVID-19 but that did not slow them down one bit with their classwork.
"It says a lot about the strong culture our coaches have created surrounding academics. This is just what we do."
If O'Brien were to encapsulate a theme for her department, it would be something like: Athletics Academic Advising---Where Excellence is the Norm.
"Our coaches and players compete for top grades just as hard as in their sports competing to win games," O'Brien said. "We have a long and proud tradition of academic excellence that has been created and sustained by design.
"The coaches want to win everything. They want to have the highest team GPA at DePaul. They want to win the Community Service Cup. Matt Brothers and Doug Bruno are the most competitive when it comes to community service."
According to O'Brien, the top five team GPAs are women's tennis with 3.930, men's tennis at 3.901 followed by women's soccer (3.772), volleyball (3.713) and softball (3.700).
"In DeWayne's (athletics director DeWayne Peevy) opening press conference after being named the new athletics director, he spoke right away about academics," O'Brien said. "That message is so important coming from the top-down. It kept our history of academic excellence front and center.
"The 189 Blue Demons named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team was a school record. They represented a whopping 87 percent of the student-athlete population---among the highest percentage of all BIG EAST schools."
Alongside O'Brien working behind the scenes in 2020-21 sustaining this academic dynasty are assistant directors Ben Gutman and Terri Sullivan plus graduate assistants India Steward and Emmy Sehmann and advisor Richie Fugiel.
"We are just as competitive as the coaches when it comes to academic success, O'Brien said. "It's fun to win, and I want to win---every time.
"It all starts with our coaches recruiting a lot of outstanding students and high academic achievers when they come in. Hopefully, we can add even more to their academic performance."
That is evident as the DePaul golf team picked up All-Academic Team honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) for the 13th consecutive year.
The GCAA announced the 2020-21 NCAA DI All-American Scholars presented by Srixon/Cleveland Golf and DePaul was represented on the academic list by Perry Chong, Noah Kolar and Artemiy Yalovenko.
Chong, Kolar and Yalovenko each earned All-American Scholars recognition for the first time in their careers. They participated in 40 percent of his team's competitive rounds, had a stroke-average under 76.0, maintained a minimum cumulative career GPA of 3.2 and were of high moral character in good standing at their university.
DePaul men's tennis had all nine team members (Christopher Casati, Phasu Sirinit, Spanjaard, Fran and Vito Tonejc, Tripp Tuff, Luuk Wassenaar and Tamas Zador) named as 2021 ITA Scholar Athletes with each posting a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
The Blue Demons were also recognized with an ITA Team Academic Award for 13th time in the last 14 years after coach Matt Brothers' program posted a 3.901 team GPA.
Boris Spanjaard was voted CoSIDA NCAA Division I Men's At-Large Academic All-District First Team by members of the college sports information directors' national association.
Fran Tonejc won the BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Award and also earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
The All-BIG EAST First Team selection was also singled out with both the ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award and the Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award for the Midwest Region.
That has only happened one other time in program history back in 2012 when Matija Palinic also doubled up on the two awards. The BIG EAST champion "Band of Brothers" also won the ITA Midwest Region Community Service Award for the fourth time in the last five years.
BIG EAST Player of the Year Vito Tonejc was voted DePaul's Male Player of the Year by his fellow student athletes.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its annual academic awards with the Blue Demons earning the Team Academic Award while Brendan Favre, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Jason Malonga, Courvoisier McCauley and Pantelis Xidias were named to the Honors Court.
The NABC Honors Court recognizes outstanding efforts in the classroom each season for all NCAA divisions and the NAIA. Honors Court honorees must be a junior or senior academically with a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher.
The Team Academic Excellence Awards recognize outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better for the 2020-21 season. The Blue Demons claimed the recognition for the fourth straight year and the fifth time in the last six years.
"At DePaul, we focus on the intentional development of the student, person and athlete," Peevy said. "Three of our five guiding principles focus on Academic Excellence, Championship Experience along with Developing and Equipping our Future Leaders.
"Every Blue Demon has the opportunity to excel in the classroom in whatever field of study they choose. They can be a transformational servant leader in the community and also be an outstanding performer in athletic competition.
"Aspasia Avgeri, Rutendo Chimbaru, Ashton Colaire, Lexi Held and Vito Tonejc all exemplify the true meaning of a student athlete and help show others that DePaul University is an Everything School where you can Dream Big with no restrictions on success.
"I am so proud of Aspasia for her latest achievement and all five of our BIG EAST Sport Excellence Award winners."
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced the recipients of the 2021 NCAA Division I All-Academic Awards.
The DePaul women's program finished with a cumulative team GPA of 3.609 which ranked in the top 35 of all Division I team GPAs. The men's team posted a cumulative team GPA of 3.389.
The women's team has now earned the honor for the 13th straight year while the men's team has claimed the recognition for the seventh consecutive season and 12th time in the last 13 years.
Earning individual awards on the women's side were Tori Carroll, Rebecca Chouinard, Mackenna Orie and Kiersten Walker while Adam Nelson and Brendan van Voorhis were the men's individual honorees.
Women's basketball standout Lexi Held was named CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team and the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year for her sport. Held and Sonya Morris were selected to the Division I-AAA ADA national Scholar-Athlete Team.
DePaul volleyball earned the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 14th consecutive year and the 15th time in the last 16 years.
The Blue Demons brought home Honor Roll distinction after maintaining a team GPA in the top 20 percent of all Division I programs---closing out the unprecedented year with a 3.713 cumulative team GPA.
"I can't wait to share these accomplishments with the entire university community," said Faculty Athletics Representative and Kinesiology professor Anna Marie Frank. "Being very proud of our student-athletes' commitments to their academics is such an understatement---it is more like amazement at what they are able to accomplish while competing at the Division I level.
"Over my 28 years teaching at DePaul, I have been vividly aware of the significance that our coaches place on their athletes' attendance, classwork and overall grades. I am sure it helps the students navigate what could be an overwhelming conflict between their team and their classes. Not At DePaul.
"As FAR, I am so proud to be part of an athletics program that is committed to a holistically positive experience for our student athletes. We are actually meeting on a regular basis about how to get even better at it."
Episode 29: Kacy & Jenna
Thursday, November 13
Blue Demon Room Podcast Episode 17: Rachel Wilhelm and Noreen Vlamakis, Rush Physical Therapy
Wednesday, March 19
Episode 11: DeWayne Peevy, Vice President/Director of Athletics
Wednesday, December 18
Blue Demon Breakdown - Oct. 16
Wednesday, October 16