Freedom High School senior and number one singles tennis player Andrew Sinai was named the 2014-2015 District XI Boys' Tennis Scholar-Athlete winner on May 27 at the 16th annual District XI Tennis Scholar-Athlete Banquet held at the Best Western in Bethlehem. Moravian Academy's Kara Chyung was the girls winner.

"It's really, really cool to receive this honor. I know a lot of people on the committee, and to recognize me like that in a group of people like this, I was just really surprised," Sinai said.

Sinai was the Patriots' number one singles player for four years, compiling a record of 51-2 in dual meets. He won the district title his sophomore and junior years, but had to withdraw from this year's district singles tournament because of a concussion he suffered the week prior.

"That was a big disappointment for him," said Freedom tennis coach Jeff Young, "so these accolades are great. I have never seen anybody play tennis the way he does. To say the least, he is a great tennis player and a great kid."

Sinai is ranked 46 out of 423 Freedom High School seniors with a GPA of 4.34, and he will attend Drexel University to major in computer science. "Tennis is a creative outlet for me. It allows me to show my personality," Sinai said.

"I am very surprised and very honored," Chyung said.

Chyung's record at number one singles this year was 16-11, and she was District Doubles Champion. Moravian Academy also won the District Team Championship this year. In addition, Chyung holds the record for most career singles wins in the school's history.

Ironically, Chyung was not a fan of the game at first.

"I didn't like it. I was very, very bad," she said. "What made me love the sport was the team at Moravian Academy. It allowed me to contribute to a better effort. There were more tangible goals, and I wasn't just playing for myself."

Sinai and Chyung received a plaque and a monetary award for their accomplishments.

District XI nominees for the 2014-2015 Boys' Tennis Scholar-Athlete were: Aaron King of Salisbury, Ken Grenestedt of Saucon Valley, Sinai of Freedom, Ryan Betts of Easton, Brian Kuntz of Wilson, Julian Mark of Liberty, Peter Harrison of Parkland, Sahil Arora of Nazareth, Pierce Blasi of Pen Argyl, Austin Grace of Allentown Central Catholic, Akinokl Mollenthiel of East Stroudsburg South, Ian Milles of William Allen, Luke Mesko of Bethlehem Catholic, Will Kyaw of East Stroudsburg North, and Adam Kramer of Moravian Academy.

District XI Girls' Tennis Scholar-Athlete nominees were Sabrina Elward of Allentown Central Catholic, Erica Nicoletti of Bangor, Samantha Macaluso of Bethlehem Catholic, Emily Becker of East Stroudsburg North, Brittany Poje of East Stroudsburg South, Cynthia Blay of Easton, Caroline Smith of Emmaus, Flannery Johnston of Freedom, Gabrielle Binder of Jim Thorpe, Emily Moss of Liberty, Juliana Mitchell of Nazareth, Jolene Stearns of Northampton, Rachel Wong of Parkland, Abigail Strouse of Pen Argyl, Abigail Kahn of Salisbury, Amanda Blazka of Saucon Valley, Molly Loomis of Southern Lehigh, Madelyn Dolinsky of Tamaqua, Christine Endy of Whitehall, Mary Gilbert of William Allen, and Emily Reiter of Wilson.

Plaques were presented to all of the nominees.