From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
For the second-straight year, Case Western Reserve University junior Sahil Dayal (Superior Township, Mich. / Greenhills School) was named the recipient of the Elite 90 Award at the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship.
The Elite 90, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.
Dayal, majoring in economics on the pre-medicine track, currently carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average. He was presented with the award during the warmups of the men's tennis quarterfinal match against Gustavus Adolphus College in Orlando, Florida.
Dayal becomes the first CWRU athlete to win the award more than once over a career and is just the third player in the history of Division III men's tennis to claim the honor twice, joining Williams' Bryan Chow (2011 and 2012) and Stevens' Matthew Heinrich (2015 and 2016).
This marks the eighth time that a CWRU athlete has been named the Elite 90 winner and the third time a men's tennis player has claimed the honor with former Spartan Derek Reinbold also winning the award in 2014. A department-high three CWRU athletes have now been selected as Elite 90 Award winners during the 2022-23 academic year, including Jack Begley (men's cross country), Elizabeth White (women's soccer), and Dayal.
CWRU's eight NCAA Elite 90 Award winners rank as the sixth most all-time among Division III programs, behind only MIT (21), WashU (16), Salisbury (11), Messiah (10), and St. Thomas (9).
In addition to his academic achievements, Dayal went 24-12 in doubles matches this season, including a 16-9 mark in dual matches. He stands at 49-20 for his career in doubles matches, while adding a 10-5 mark in singles play over his career. He is a two-time UAA All-Academic honoree and ITA Scholar-Athlete.
For more information on the Elite 90 award winners, log on to https://www.ncaa.com/elite-90.