AVE MARIA, Fla.- Ave Maria sophomore tennis player Nicholas Hofmeister was named the Sun Conference's men's tennis Champion of Character on Wednesday night, as announced by the conference office at the men's tennis awards banquet. Hofmeister is the first tennis player in program history to earn the Champion of Character award, and the third such Gyrene this school year.

Hofmeister is a dedicated student-athlete, majoring in Health Science and minoring in Psychology. Despite being only a sophomore, Nicholas has taken over the leadership role this year. He has being helping his teammates with their classes and their tennis game. In practice, Nicholas tries to hit with everyone despite the level difference. He made to the Dean's List last year. He is very passionate about his faith, twice attending the March for Life as well as participating daily in Mass and Holy Hour.  He also volunteers at his church back in Indiana twice a week, as well as during special events.

During the banquet, the conference also handed out awards for All-Conference, Player of the Year, Doubles Team of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year. The conference also honored Academic All-Conference selections, of which the AMU tennis program had six.

To be eligible for Academic All-Sun Conference honors, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with two semesters complete at their institution, and carry a grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale. The six Gyrenes honored included Hofmeister, Jonathan Althoff, Cesar Menacho, Tucker Fischer, Averie Harkey, and Cora Saftner.