Two University of Illinois Springfield tennis players were recently named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District At-Large teams. Sam Clarke was honored among the men's selections, and Kena Bere was named to the women's at-large team.
 
Clarke, a senior, was named the UIS Student-Athlete of the Year after an outstanding senior season that saw him earn first-team all-GLVC honors. He finished the season with a 19-4 singles record, including a 14-3 mark in dual action. He was also 13-9 in doubles action. Clarke played at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles, and was regionally-ranked during the year in both. He ended his career with 127 wins, including 70 in singles action.
 
Bere, a junior, was third on the team this year with 11 singles victories, and tied for the team-high with 12 doubles wins. She was primarily playing in the No. 4 position in singles and No. 2 slot in doubles. She was 10-8 in duals singles action, and 11-6 in doubles dual play. She won two tiebreakers in the first round of the GLVC Tournament, helping the Prairie Stars to their first win in that event.
 
Clarke and Bere each led their respective squads to their best seasons in UIS's NCAA era. The women's team went 14-5 on the year, while the men's team was 13-5. Both were nationally-ranked for the first time, and both just missed a bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament.
 
The academic all-district at-large teams includes 10 men's and women's players from the NCAA Division II Midwest Region in the sports of beach volleyball, bowling, crew/rowing, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis, men's volleyball, water polo, and men's wrestling.