Thursday, August 17, 2006

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (August 17 2006) - The ETSU women's tennis team has been named to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team for the 2005-2006 season.  This is the third year in a row that the women's team has taken all-academic honors. The Lady Bucs had a combined 3.28 GPA.

The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any school that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above.  All eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2005 and spring 2006).

In addition to this award, two athletes received ITA Scholar-Athlete status.  Senior Sandie Knight (Adamstown, Australia) was named for the second year in a row and sophomore Olya Batsula (Minsk, Belarus) was named for the first time. 

In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must be a varsity letterwinner, have a grade point average of at least 3.50 for the current academic year, and have been enrolled at their present school for at least two semesters. 

The Lady Bucs, who finished 23-5 overall and 9-0 in the conference last season made history as they made their first-ever NCAA appearance after claiming the A-Sun title in April. The team has steadily improved over the last few years, earning their first-ever post-season national ranking (No. 75) and their highest-ever regional ranking (No. 11), showing that they excel both on and off the courts.