Alabama’s Ortiz Named SEC Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year
The SEC announced on Tuesday that Alabama graduate student Edson Ortiz was selected as the Southeaster Conference Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row.
Ortiz finished his undergraduate with a 3.75 GPA in human performance exercise science. He currently sustains a 4.0 GPA on his path to a master's degree in sports hospitality.
The Chihuahua, Mexico native is additionally a four-year ITA Scholar-Athlete and a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was named to the SEC Men's Tennis Community Service Team.
"It is a tremendous honor for Edson to be recognized again by the conference coaches for his dedication and commitment to being the very best student-athlete between the baselines and beyond," said Alabama tennis coach George Husack. "His personal standard was quickly put in place when he arrived here as a freshman and has continued through his undergraduate and unique graduate years. While this super-senior season has presented challenges by way of injuries in the summer and fall, as well as medical testing, limitations and protocol, Edson has taken the bull by the horns and made an indelible impact to our program."
Ortiz has been just as successful on the court for the Crimson Tide, he currently plays as the Tide's No. 1 player as a two time All-SEC performer. He has 83 singles wins and 59 doubles wins during his time in college and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in doubles play.
He becomes the third Crimson Tide tennis player to win the award and the second player to win it in back-to-back years following Daniil Proskura's standout performances in 2013 and 2014.