Wake Forest Athletics
Four Deacs Named to All-ACC Academic Team
6/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
ACC Release
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Four Wake Forest men's tennis student-athletes were named to the 2016 All-ACC Academic Men's Tennis Team, the league office announced Thursday morning.
Senior Romain Bogaerts received the honor for the third time in his career, while sophomore Skander Mansouri collected his second plaudit. Redshirt sophomore Christian Seraphim and freshman Dennis Uspensky earned the accolade for the first time.
Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
The Demon Deacons' four All-ACC Academic Team honorees are second in the league to Virginia's five.
Bogaerts, a business enterprise major, finished the season 23-15 in singles and 30-8 in doubles. The two-time All-American and four-time all-conference selection became the seventh Demon Deacon to reach 100-career singles wins, finishing with 103. In 2016, he clinched important team victories over No. 1 North Carolina and Notre Dame (ACC Tournament) with dramatic third-set tiebreaker wins at No. 4 singles.
An intended business major, Mansouri became the third Demon Deacon to ever achieve All-American status in singles and doubles in the same season, finishing the year ranked No. 14 with a 33-11 record in singles and No. 9 with a 26-15 ledger in doubles, primarily alongside Seraphim. The Deacs' MVP was a First Team All-ACC selection and reached the round of 16 at the NCAA Singles Championships.
Seraphim, a business enterprise major, paired with Mansouri to reach the quarterfinal of the NCAA Doubles Tournament and achieve All-American honors. The duo went 24-14 in 2015-16 with 12 wins against ranked teams, including five victories against top-15 pairings. In singles, Seraphim recorded a team-best 35 wins on the season, slotting him in a tie with David Berè for the third-most wins in a single season in program history.
A mid-year addition to the team, Uspensky has yet to declare a major. In the spring alone, he went 27-5 in singles and 23-6 in doubles. Both dual-match win totals led the team. Uspensky also clinched the team's first-ever ACC title with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) win over Virginia's Luca Corinteli at No. 6 singles. The rookie earned the honor of ACC Tournament MVP by going 6-0 in singles and doubles combined at the event.
Wake Forest had a program-best final ranking of No. 8 after climbing as high as No. 5 nationally for the first time ever during the 2016 season. The Deacons made their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 and set a program record for wins by going 31-6.
They also won their first-ever ACC championship with a 4-3 title match victory over nine-time defending champion and eventual 2016 NCAA champion Virginia.
Players Mentioned
