Pac-12 Tennis Scholar-Athletes of the Year Named

SAN FRANCISCO - STANFORD's Krista Hardebeck was named the Pac-12 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year and USC's Max de Vroome was tabbed the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2016 season, the Conference office announced on Wednesday. The award, which is presented in each of the 23 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.

de Vroome (Vught, Netherlands) joins Jaak Poldma (2009) and Robert Farah (2010) as Trojans who have claimed the Pac-12 Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor. de Vroome secured his place in USC history as a sophomore when his heroic singles victory clinched the Trojans’ fifth national championship in a six-year span. Now a senior captain for the Trojans, de Vroome rose to his highest career singles ranking, having cracked the nation’s top-20 at No. 18 in the land while also stepping into the No. 1 singles spot for his team. He finished the season ranked No. 24 in the nation and earned himself a place in the NCAA Singles draw for the first time in his career. An All-Pac-12 first-team honoree and a two-time All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention recipient, de Vroome has done far more than impress on the tennis courts. Academically, de Vroome has shined throughout his four years as a Trojan. He earned high honors last season as a 2015 ITA Scholar-Athlete, and this year has garnered even more academic accolades as a 2016 Pac-12 Post-Graduate Scholarship Winner and a 2016 Pac-12 Tom Hansen Medal winner. His 3.58 GPA and ambition as a business administration major has helped de Vroome consistently collect Pac-12 All-Academic honors while standing out with the top GPA on his team. The senior was also named to the 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large Team for his work in the classroom. He also has been an active participant in the annual Rose Cup event, hosted at USC to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

Hardebeck (Santa Ana, Calif.) joins Lindsay Burdette (2010) as Stanford's two Pac-12 Women's Tennis Scholar-Athletes of the Year. She graduates from Stanford as a two-time NCAA Champion and with 99 career singles victories. The senior went 12-1 against Pac-12 opponents on the year, compiled a 21-3 dual record and produced a career-high 17-match winning streak. She earned All-Pac-12 accolades three times in her career and garnered Pac-12 All-Academic first team honors in 2015 and 2016 while being an honorable mention recipient in 2014. A team captain, Hardebeck boasts a 3.80 GPA and double majored in political science and psychology. Hardebeck was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete during the 2015 season as well. Last summer, Hardebeck completed an internship in Uganda at the Citizen’s Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU).

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 23 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball, and wrestling.

Also Nominated Women: Lynn Chi, CAL; Kyle McPhillips, UCLA; Sarah Richter, UTAH; Sophia Bott, WASH.

Also Nominated Men: Jason Jaruvang, ARIZ; Mads Engsted, CAL; Daan Maasland, ORE; Maciek Romanowicz, STAN; Matt Cowley, UTAH.