July 17, 2015
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Commodore tennis teams continue to earn accolades for their 2015 seasons as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has announced the ITA All-Academic Teams and ITA Scholar-Athlete award winners.
“At its core, college tennis is about higher education! And, our sport has always been a leader when it comes to high performing scholar-athletes,” said Timothy Russell, Chief Executive Officer of the ITA. “This group represents the best of the best, as do their coaches who regularly serve as such great teachers and mentors of our sport’s finest young people. Hearty and well-deserved congratulations coupled with loud cheers go out to all of these superstars of intercollegiate athletics.”
With a cumulative GPA of 3.453 for the 2014-2015 academic year, the Vanderbilt women’s team is one of seven SEC schools to earn the outstanding accomplishment of being named an ITA All-Academic Team. The All-Academic Team award is open to any member program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above on a 4.00 scale.
With a strong emphasis on collegiate academics, the ITA awards student-athletes who have a grade point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.00 scale with Scholar-Athlete status.
Three student-athletes from VU’s men’s tennis team were honored for their hard work in the classroom, as Rhys Johnson, Mason Vierra and recent grad Jeffrey Offerdahl were all named ITA Scholar-Athletes.
On the women’s side, five Commodores were recognized by the ITA as Scholar-Athletes. Headlining the quintet are recent graduates Ashleigh Antal and Marie Casares, who set excellent examples not only on the court, but off as 2015 team captains. Georgina Sellyn, Maggie Leavell and Payton Robinette each garner recognitions of their own as Scholar-Athlete status with exceptional academics this past school year.