Women's Tennis Players Earn ITA Scholar-Athlete Honors
SKILLMAN, N.J. -- Four players on the Willamette University womenâ??s tennis team have been named ITA Scholar-Athletes for the 2007-08 season, as selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The WU womenâ??s team also qualified for the ITA Team All-Academic Award.
SKILLMAN, N.J. -- Four players on the Willamette University womens tennis team have been named ITA Scholar-Athletes for the 2007-08 season, as selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The WU womens team also qualified for the ITA Team All-Academic Award.
Willamette seniors Alaine Anderson (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill HS) and Tiffany Kam (Pearl City, HI/Punahou HS) were repeat selections as Scholar-Athletes. Anderson majored in Rhetoric and Media Studies with a double major in Spanish. Kam majored in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Chinese.
Alyssa Morrison (So., Anacortes, WA/Anacortes HS) and Jamie Slonaker (Fr., Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) of WU were chosen as Scholar-Athletes for the first time. Morrison is majoring in Rhetoric and Media Studies, while Slonaker is undecided regarding her major. Overall, a total of 381 women's tennis players from throughout NCAA Division III were named Scholar-Athletes.
In order to receive the ITA Scholar-Athlete award, student-athletes were required to achieve at least a 3.5 grade point average (4.0 scale) during the 2007-08 academic year. They also had to be letterwinners on their respective teams and had to attend their current colleges or universities for at least one full academic year by the end of the season.
All of Willamettes womens tennis players helped the Bearcats qualify for the ITA All-Academic Award. Willamette was one of three teams from the Northwest Conference and one of just 66 NCAA Division III womens tennis programs nationwide to receive the All-Academic Award. Teams honored by the ITA for their academic success had to achieve at least a 3.2 cumulative team GPA.
Head Coach Becky Roberts recently completed her eighth season at Willamette by leading the Bearcats to a Northwest Conference Tournament berth. Willamette went 8-8 (5th place) in the NWC during the regular season and concluded the year with an 8-13 overall record.
Kam was named First Team All-Northwest Conference. She combined with Abby Funabiki (Jr., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) to achieve an 8-4 record at #2 doubles in NWC regular season action.
Senior Tiffany Kam was one of four WU women's tennis players to be named Scholar-Athletes by the ITA.