Aug. 20, 2008
BALTIMORE, MD - Former Johns Hopkins men's tennis standout Joe Vasoontara (Bangkok, Thailand/Loomis Chaffee) and rising senior Tripp Weber (Blue Bell, PA/Germantown Academy) have been named Scholar-Athletes by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must meet the following criteria: 1.) be a varsity letter winner, 2.) have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and 3.) have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including freshman thorough senior year).
Vasoontara, a four-time First Team All-Centennial Conference selection, graduated as the all-time leader in doubles wins (59) and combined wins (106) in JHU history. He was the first tennis player in school history - male or female - to win 100 career matches. In his final season, Vasoontara and doubles partner Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/Saint Xavier) were invited to the NCAA Doubles Championship. The pair nearly upset the second-seeded team in the tournament before falling in three sets. Vasoontara graduated in May 2008 with a degree in economics and boasted a 3.61 cumulative GPA.
Weber, an international studies major with a 3.51 GPA, went 5-2 in singles last season and ended the year on a four-match win streak. Named a team captain for 2009, Weber will help Johns Hopkins in search of its third consecutive Centennial Conference title.
