Proud Of Our Alumni!

Success at the college level is not measured by athletic excellence alone; rather one must achieve and grow in tennis, academics and character.

One of the primary objectives of the Austin Tennis Academy is to assist each athlete in making the perfect college choice. For three former ATA athletes, Austin’s St. Edward’s University became that perfect choice.

Brett Powers, currently a junior at St. Edward’s, was recently named Heartland Conference Player of The Year. He compiled a 12-11 record at #1 singles, and a 14-10 record at #1 doubles. Powers jumped to the top singles spot after competing at lines 5 and 6 his freshman year, and line 2 his sophomore year. Along with his athletic success, Powers has achieved academically as well. Last semester, Powers earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, which was the highest of anyone on the team.

“My time at ATA taught me to be goal oriented from an early age,” Powers said. “I was always taught to constantly work toward short term and long term goals, and that translates very well to the college level where as a team you are constantly working for greater achievements.”

Mary Bain, a freshman at St. Edward’s University, was named to the All-Heartland Conference Team. Bain has compiled a 12-7 singles record at number 3 and 4 singles, and a 14-7 doubles record at the number 2 spot.

Also receiving honors, former ATA athlete and current St. Edward’s junior, Boris Barrios, was named to the All-Heartland Conference Team.

Powers, Barrios and Bain will lead the St. Edward’s men's and women's teams in their Regional tournaments starting this coming weekend. Each hopes to earn a chance to fly to Florida to compete in the National tournament the following week.

Senior finishes 73-43 in singles for career

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior Adam Slagter (Austin, Texas) was named the 2009 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Winner for Penn State this week. This is the first time Slagter has won the award for the Nittany Lions. Last year, senior Brendan Lynch (North Potomac, Md.) garnered the award.

Slagter made a nice return to the spring lineup this year after missing the fall with an ankle injury. The Texas native had 73 wins for his career in singles, tied for 13th with former teammate James Dwyer. Slagter set a program record during the 2005-06 season when he notched 30 singles wins in a season, one that may never be broken.

Additionally, the senior captain climbed up in the record books again on April 17 when him and freshman teammate Jason Lee (Melbourne, Australia) upset Wisconsin's 19th-ranked doubles pairing of Moritz Bauman and Marek Michalicka. With the doubles win, Slagter moved into second place alone for most career doubles wins with 69. Slagter, who is majoring in business, is 10-12 this season, with most of his action coming in the No. 1 and 2 bouts. He has teamed up with Lee to go 14-12 in doubles.

Slagter has also been recognized by the Big Ten for his academics, as he received Academic All-Big Ten in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Additionally, he received the Holmes Cathrall Coaches Award in 2007.

Penn State finished this season with a 14-13 record, the programs seventh consecutive winning season. The Nittany Lions reached the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in 2009, before losing to Illinois.