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University of Massachusets Athletics
Tennis Named ITA Academic Team; Four Earn Individual Honors
July 18, 2015 | Tennis
Capping what was one of the best seasons on the court, the UMass tennis team added high academic honors to the 2014-15 campaign as the Minutewomen were named an ITA All-Academic Team as well. Additionally, four individuals were named ITA Scholar-Athletes for their work in the classroom.
Isabel Balsavage, Carol Benito, Julia Larson, and Aarzoo Malik each posted a 3.50 GPA to receive the ITA Scholar-Athlete honor. As a team, the Minutewomen had a team GPA over a 3.20 GPA.
The ITA 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). All eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA, NAIA or Junior/Community College eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2014 and spring 2015). In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must meet the following criteria: 1.) be a varsity letter winner, 2.) have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and 3.) have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including freshman thorough senior year). All members of the 2015 ITA All-Academic Teams and ITA Scholar-Athletes will receive a certificate to recognize the achievement.
Overall, UMass finished the year with a 17-5 overall record marking the second-most wins for a season in program history. The Minutewomen reached the Atlantic 10 title match for the second time in the last four seasons. In each of those years, UMass has finished as semifinalists or better in the championship tournament.
Head coach Judy Dixon was named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, while Benito was one of four players who earned All-Conference honors. Benito and doubles partner Ana Yrazusta were ranked as the No. 4 doubles pair in the final ITA New England Regional Rankings at the end of the season.
All told, UMass will enter the 2015-16 campaign as one of the top programs in the Atlantic 10 with Chanel Glasper and Gianna Francis as the only seniors on the 2014-15 squad.
