June 14, 2021
East Central Community College's Chris Lawrance (York, Australia) has been named as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American among community college players from across the country. The prestigious honor is only given to student-athletes who finish in the top 10 of the final ITA singles rankings.
"I'm just so proud of Chris," said ECCC head tennis coach Jay Pacelli. "He is a great talent who worked very hard to get this tremendous honor, and he is very deserving, especially for such a high character young man like Chris."
Lawrance had a stellar year for the Warriors at the No. 1 singles flight, ultimately earning him MACCC All-Conference honors for both singles and doubles play. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley signee went on to have a very strong outing at the NJCAA DI Tennis Championship in Plano, Texas, as he picked up two wins, one over Sauk Valley and another Meridian, before falling in the quarterfinals. The impressive play helped bolster the Warriors to an 18th overall team finish in the event.
"Our players receiving national honors like this will help our program continue to move forward in bringing in players that would like to develop into not only the best players in the MACCC but into some of the best in the country, such as Chris," said Pacelli. "It is just tremendous having one of our own as the only All-American from this conference and the only conference team to have had two national tournament quarterfinalists. Again, it's just very special."
