AMHERST, N.Y. -- Zachary Laplante (Ottawa, Ont.) of the Daemen University men's tennis team has been named to the Academic All-America Division II Men's Tennis Team, as selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC). A third team selection, the award recognizes his combined achievements in the classroom and on the tennis court. The entire 22-team was announced on Wednesday afternoon.

To be eligible for Academic All-America honors, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, and they must have reached sophomore athletic eligibility with at least one full calendar year completed at his/her current institution. An Accounting/Professional Accountancy major, Laplante has maintained a 4.00 cumulative grade point average throughout his four years in college.

Laplante becomes the first men's tennis student-athlete in Daemen's NCAA era (2015-present) to earn Academic All-America honors, and just the fifth Daemen student-athlete all-time to earn the prestigious honor. Along with former basketball standouts Andrew Sischo and Katie Titus, Laplante becomes the third Wildcat to be named Academic All-America in the 2022-23 school year, along with men's soccer star Derek Bartlo and Paige Emborsky of the women's basketball team. 

In his senior campaign and second season at Daemen, Laplante played in 19 of Daemen's 23 matches and led the team across the board with an 11-8 record in singles play and a 6-13 record in doubles play. In the spring season, Laplante played the majority of doubles matches with fellow senior Phillip Vance where they amassed a 6-10 overall record, with five of those wins in No. 2 doubles play. Laplante was the only Daemen player to finish with a winning record in singles play, and finished 5-5 in the last 10 matches of the spring. The senior went 9-5 in the No. 5 singles position this season, including a massive 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over RIT's Joel Pho to earn Daemen's first match victory of the season on Feb. 3. He was one of just two Daemen players to earn a singles victory in ECC play, topping Dist. of Columbia's Jake Bedforth 6-1, 6-0 in No. 5 singles on March 25. Laplante earned the ECC men's tennis Elite 19 award, given to the player with the top GPA in the conference after sustaining a 4.00 cumulative GPA. Laplante was inducted into the Daemen Business Administration and Accounting Department Honor Society in April and was named to the Academic All-District Team in early May. 

The Wildcats finished the 2023 spring season with a 5-15 record. It marked the most wins for the team since the 2018-19 season where they finished 6-15 overall.
 

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Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

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