PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (June 6, 2012) - University of the Sciences in Philadelphia men's tennis player Alvaro Vargas (Manizales, Columbia) has been named to Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Men's At-Large Team as a Third Team Selection.

Vargas (Ministry of National Education/Manizales, Columbia) is the first men's tennis player in program history to earn Academic All-America® honors as part of CoSIDA's (College Sports Information Directors of America) Capital One Academic All-America® Program.  He is the first USciences student-athlete to receive Academic All-America honors since 2005 when fomer volleyball great Emily Roth earned First Team honors and just the third ever from any USciences sport to be named to a national Academic All-America® team.

The Capital One Academic All-America® Division II  Men's At-Large program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo and wrestling.  Vargas was amongst the 45 student-athletes named to the teams and just one of 11 tennis players nationally to earn Academic All-America® honors

To be nominated for the Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a minimum 3.30 grade point average and a starter or significant reserve on her team.

Vargas is a psychology major at the University of the Sciences.  He recently completed his second and final season of play for the Devils after having played two seasons at Union College in Kentucky.  Alvaro has a 3.79 grade point average and is on target to graduate in May 2013.

A two-year starter for the Devils, Vargas recorded an 11-6 record during the 2011-12 season playing at the number one singles spot and leading the team to the conference tournament semi-finals for the second consecutive season.  Alvaro also recorded a 10-6 record at number one doubles.   He lost just one conference match in singles play and was ranked #8 in the region in doubles by the ITA.

In his two seasons at USciences, Vargas recorded a 19-12 singles and 21-11 doubles mark for a winning percentage of 63.4%. He earned honorable mention All-CACC in 2011.  Coupled with his two seasons at Union, Alvaro compiled a 54-15 singles record and 54-16 doubles record over his four seasons of intercollegiate tennis.

The Manizales, Columbia native is a member of Psi-Chi (Psychology Honor Society and has earned Dean's List honors three times.  Vargas was also named a Division II Athletic Director's Association (ADA) Academic Achievement Award winner in 2011.