April 20, 2021

2021 SEC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year

By: SEC Staff
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

Fayetteville, Ark. – The 2021 SEC men’s tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year was awarded to Alabama’s Edson Ortiz today by the conference office. The accolade was announced as part of the conference tournament. It’s the second consecutive season Ortiz has been awarded with this honor.

The Chihuahua, Mexico native has continued to excel at the highest levels both in the classroom and on the court. He graduated with a 3.75 GPA in Human Performance Exercise Science and maintains a 4.0 GPA while pursuing a master’s degree in sports hospitality.

A four-year ITA Scholar-Athlete and member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, he has also been named to the SEC Men’s Tennis Community Service Team.

Ortiz came back from an injury in the fall to play No. 1 for the Crimson Tide, besting a pair of top-55 singles opponents to lead Alabama over No. 15 Mississippi State and at No. 9 Ole Miss. With three dual matches left in the regular season, he is 12-9 in dual match singles competition and 5-5 in doubles in conference matches.

The 2020 ITA Southern Region Most Improved Senior, he is a two-year All-SEC performer who has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in doubles during his career.

Overall, Ortiz has notched 83 singles and 60 doubles wins at the Capstone.

Tuscaloosa, Ala. – The 2021 SEC women’s tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year was awarded to Ole Miss’ Tereza Janatova today by the conference office. The accolade was announced as part of the conference tournament.

The Nova Paka, Czechia native has been a star both on the court and in the classroom. To date, she has a perfect 4.0 GPA in her graduate level engineering program. Janatova graduated with a 3.95 GPA in the undergraduate engineering program as well. She looks to combine her passions of mechanical engineering and sport in the future.

A four-time ITA Scholar-Athlete (2017-2020) and five-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient (2016-2020), Janatova has been a cornerstone for the Ole Miss women’s tennis program. She had an outstanding single record of 11-3 (10-2 in duals) in the regular season. Janatova has played primarily at No. 3 singles for the Rebels in 2021.

In doubles she was 10-11 overall, 9-9 in dual matches. She earned her highest career rankings in both singles (No. 80) and doubles (No. 44) this season. Janatova has gone 2-1 versus ranked opponents this season, earning victories over two top-75 opponents. She was 1-1 in regular season doubles matches versus ranked opponents, having competed versus two top-50 pairings.

Janatova has earned 113 victories in her career (62 singles, 51 doubles). Her career dual singles record is an outstanding 41-11. Janatova has helped to lead the Rebels to an 11-8 (7-6 SEC) record this season. Ole Miss has peaked in the ITA rankings this season at No. 19 in the nation.