TEMPE, Ariz.— The University of Idaho men's and women's tennis teams earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team award along with 13 student-athletes (men and women) receiving individual honors for their academic accomplishments. The organization released its 2020 All-Academic and Scholar-Athletes list on Monday morning. The women's tennis team earned the award for the fourth consecutive year.
On the women's side, the Vandals were one of 244 division I women's tennis teams to earn the ITA All-Academic Team honor. Idaho was one of eight Big Sky schools to earn the award including Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona.
The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale). All varsity letter winners should be factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2019 and spring 2020).
Individually, six Vandal women captured the ITA Scholar-Athlete award. Recently graduated
Shion Watabe and
Maggie Chen nabbed their fourth and third consecutive honor, respectively, while rising juniors
Marta Magalhães and
Laura Spataro were also recognized with their third Scholar-Athlete honor. Rising sophomores
Nicole Horacek and
Andjela Todorovic earned their first ITA Scholar-Athlete honor.
The Idaho men's tennis program also earned the ITA All-Academic team award and were one of 186 teams to receive the award. The men's squad featured seven individuals who captured the ITA Scholar-Athlete award. Recently graduated
Guilherme Scarpelli and
Esteban Santibanez earned the award for the first time while rising junior
Bruno Casino earned the honor for the second consecutive year. Rising sophomores
Brandon Hodge,
Francisco Bascon,
Adam Taylor and
Alejandro Sedeno all earned the award for the first time.
In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must have a grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year and must be listed on the institutional eligibility. Teams earn the award by having a 3.2 grade point average (on a 4.00 scale).
In all, 979 Division I men's athletes were recognized along with 186 teams. On the women's side 1,430 Division I athletes were recognized along with 244 teams.
