MOBILE, Ala. – Members of the Embry-Riddle men's and women's tennis teams were recognized for their accomplishments on the court and in the classroom at the NAIA Banquet of Champions, Monday at the Renaissance Riverview Hotel.

Headlining the ERAU student-athletes who were honored on Monday was freshman Hui-I Huang, who was named the ITA/NAIA Rookie of the Year. In her first season wearing the Blue and Gold, Huang (Changhua, Taiwan) was the ITA Florida Regional runner-up and finished third in the ITA/NAIA Doubles Championship in tandem with Kristina Marova. Currently 14-12 in singles, she has played 11 matches at the top spot in the Eagle lineup and is ranked eighth in the national singles polls. She and Marova are also ranked sixth nationally.

Earning NAIA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors were men's players Chris Freeman, David Spennare, Patrick Besch and Simon Felix and women's players Kristina Marova and Elise Lagerstrom.

Freeman, who graduated from Embry-Riddle on May 7, completed his undergraduate degree in Aeronautical Science with a 3.788 cumulative grade point average. The Costa Mesa, California product is 19-5 on the year in singles, playing the majority of his matches at the No. 2 spot, and is 20-7 overall in doubles. Freeman teamed up with Deni Zmak late in the season and the duo currently tops the ITA/NAIA national doubles polls with a 9-1 record.

Spennare (Gothenburg, Sweden) also collected his diploma last Tuesday, graduating with a 3.941 GPA in Business Administration. He leads the team in singles wins at 23-2 and is a perfect 19-0 in dual match play with 14 of those wins coming at the No. 6 spot in the lineup.

The reigning ITA/NAIA national singles champion, Besch has a 3.72 GPA in Business Administration. The junior from Mainz, Germany has sat out most of the spring season due to injury, but brings a 10-1 singles ledger into postseason play. He was also a finalist for the 2013 ITA/NAIA Arthur Ashe Award.

Felix is also a junior on the Eagles' squad. Majoring in Air Traffic Management, he carries a 3.868 GPA. Felix is second behind Spennare in single-season singles wins with a 21-4 record, which includes a 6-0 record in conference play. Felix partnered with Besch to win the USTA/ITA Florida regional crown and together they finished as runners-up in the ITA/NAIA national doubles championship. Spring play has seen Felix partner with freshman Kevin Chaouat and the duo brings a 19-1 record into national tournament play.

Lagerstrom also walked across the stage as an Embry-Riddle graduate last Tuesday after earning a bachelor's degree in Human Factors Psychology in just three years. She has a 1-2 singles record on the year and completed her undergraduate career with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Currently in her junior season with the Blue and Gold, Marova (Star Sediste) has a 3.848 GPA in Business Administration. A two-time first team All-Conference and Academic All-Conference selection, Marova is 15-10 in singles and is 16-11 in tandem with Hui-I Huang. Marova is ranked 34th nationally in singles.

The ninth-seeded Embry-Riddle women will take the court at 1 p.m. when action in the 33rd annual NAIA National tournament begins. The Eagles will take on host Mobile at the Mobile Tennis. Center.

The men, seeded No. 1 in the 24 team field, will see their first action at 9 a.m. (CST) on Wednesday. The Eagles, who received a first-round bye, will take on the winner of Tuesday's contest between Lewis Clarke State and Northwestern Ohio.