GREENWOOD, Ind. – A total of six student-athletes from the Eckerd tennis programs have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Teams, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.
Olivia Lindestaf,
Catherine Cole, and
Laura Ullrich represented the women's team, while
Batu Ataseven,
Adrian Gheorghe, and
Mario Kirkov were recognized from the men's team.
The 2026 Academic All-District® men's and women's tennis teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes tennis honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
Lindestaf, a junior from Helsingborg, Sweden, is an International Business major at Eckerd. She went 15-5 this season at No. 1 singles, also picking up 11 wins at No. 1 doubles. Lindestaf was a First Team All-SSC selection and broke the single-season program record for singles wins with her 15 victories. Lindestaf will move on to the Academic All-America voting ballot.
Cole, a junior from Fort Smith, Ark., is a Psychology major at Eckerd. She also posted double-digit wins this season in singles and doubles, putting up a 12-5 record in singles and an 11-9 mark in doubles. Nine of her 12 singles victories came at the No. 5 position.
Ullrich, a sophomore from Schongau, Switzerland, is a Biochemistry major at Eckerd. She went 10-7 in singles this season, also collecting five doubles victories.
On the men's side, Ataseven is a senior from Istanbul, Turkey and will be graduating from Eckerd with a Business Administration degree. This season, he broke the career record for both singles and doubles wins after going 9-9 in singles and 16-7 in doubles. He and his partner spent a majority of the season nationally ranked in doubles by the ITA. Ataseven will move on to the Academic All-America voting ballot.
Gheorghe, a senior from London, England, will be graduating from Eckerd with a degree in Business Management. He went 6-4 in singles this season, and picked up double-digit wins in doubles with a 10-8 record.
Kirkov, a junior from Lubotice, Slovakia, is studying Business Administration and Management at Eckerd. He posted an 11-7 record in singles this season, with seven of the victories coming at the No. 2 slot. In doubles, Kirkov went 10-8 while earning wins at all three positions throughout the season.
