The Piedmont College tennis teams have been honored once again by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) who released its annual academic awards with the 2016 listing including both Piedmont teams and seven individuals as honorees for their performance in the classroom.
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 eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2015 and spring 2016).
Both Piedmont teams were named ITA All-Academic Teams as the Lions were the only USA South representative on the team listing and one of just two teams represented on the women’s side from the league along with LaGrange.
In addition to the team’s recognition, two Lady Lion tennis players and five on the men’s squad were named ITA Scholar-Athletes for their individual work in the classroom. In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status, a student-athlete must be a varsity letter winner, have a GPA of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and have been enrolled at their present institution for at least two semesters including freshman through senior year.
Earning Scholar-Athlete status for the Lady Lions were TATIANA BURKETT and TABEA SOELTER while the men’s honorees included HARRISON LABOLLITA, MATTHEW METZGER, NATHAN METZGER, ELLIOT SAILES, and ROBBIE WERNER.
The ITA is the governing body of college tennis, overseeing men’s and women’s varsity tennis at all levels – NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College – and over the past three decades has worked hard to achieve its charter goals.
Comprised of nearly 1,700 men’s and women’s coaches representing over 1,200 institutions across the country from all three NCAA Divisions, as well as the NAIA and Junior and Community Colleges, the ITA oversees activities involving over 15,000 varsity college student-athletes. For a complete listing of the ITA Academic Awards, visit the official home of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
