GREENVILLE, S.C. (May 14) – For a consecutive year, University of Mount Olive junior Bram Poel was named the Conference Carolinas Elite 23 Award winner at the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship, which was held at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina.

Poel holds a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point-average (GPA) while pursuing a bachelor's degree in business management.

A native of Leiden, Netherlands, Poel is one of the two players in program history to receive the Elite 23 honor and the only two-time recipient for UMO men's tennis. Across all sports, the Trojans have garnered the accolade 21 times, including four student-athletes who have won the award multiple times. Poel earns all-league status for a consecutive year after being named to the All-Conference Carolinas Second-Team. In the singles play, he produced a team-best record of 13-4 and competed primarily in the third slot. Poel finished with an impressive 8-1 record in Conference Carolinas action. In doubles action, he posted an 11-6 record while playing most matches with fellow junior Niklas Gruenefeldt. The duo registered a 7-2 record in league play while boasting the third-best winning percentage at No. 2 doubles in the Conference Carolinas.         

The Elite 23 Award is modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 Award and honors the student-athlete with the top GPA that is competing at the championship site. The selection criteria for the Elite 23 is identical to that of the NCAA Elite 90 awards, which honor the student-athlete with the top GPA at each of the championship final sites of the 90 championships across all three divisions – I, II, and III.