St. Mary's senior Andrew Gear received Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award for the Atlantic South region from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Wednesday. 

The ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award recognizes outstanding individuals in all divisions at the regional and national level. In August, the national winners are honored during a special ceremony hosted by the United States Tennis Association during Arthur Ashe Kids' Day inside Arthur Ashe Stadium (Flushing, N.Y.).

This award, which dates back to 1982, goes to NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and JUCO men's and women's players who have exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular, and tennis achievements.

The national award winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 21st at the NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Tennis Championship Tournament, hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Claremont, California.

St. Mary's head coach Greg Shedd expressed, "Andrew is very deserving of this award and we are extremely proud that he is being recognized for his accomplishments. The contributions Andrew has made to this team as a student, player, sportsman, and leader are immeasurable. It is important for the program to see the national recognition of the SMCM tennis student-athlete. Andrew represents the team as a whole, which consists of high-character individuals, who excel on the court and in the classroom. It has been my pleasure to coach Andrew and wish him the best with his future endeavors."

Scholastically, Gear is a 4.0 student-athlete as a triple major in English, political science, and public policy and will speak at Saturday's graduation as co-valedictorian. He is a three-year ITA Scholar-Athlete and was selected as a 2013 Capital One Academic All-America®. Gear has been inducted into four national honor societies during his time at St. Mary's and made the Dean's List all eight semesters.

He has served as a representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and been a two-year team captain for the Seahawk men's tennis team.

On the court, Gear finished his outstanding career as a four-time All-Capital Athletic Conference singles player as he earned second team All-CAC honors at No. 1 singles for the third consecutive year on April 29th. He notched a first team nod as a first-year in 2011.

The 6-3 senior captain was the first Seahawk to ever earn CAC Rookie of the Year honors in 2011 and last year became the first St. Mary's player to garner the conference's top honor as Player of the Year.

He leaves the program as its all-time leader in singles wins with 69 for a 69-17 four-year record, including an impressive 21-3 mark in conference play as Gear posted a 7-0 league record as a first-year. In his four years, he has never played lower than No. 4, going 43-12 at No. 1; 15-1 at No. 2; 4-0 at No. 3; and 1-0 at No. 4. Gear also holds the program's doubles wins record with 56 for a 56-27 career mark.