COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College women’s tennis team was selected as an All-Academic Team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, one of 129 NCAA Division II programs to achieve this honor.
The Lady Tigers also had all seven student-athletes named ITA Scholar Athletes. The recognized student-athletes are: Shakendra Alston, Catina Gamo, Sofia Gomez, Karina Izakova, Beverly Matiswe, Oliva Simms, and Gabriela Zelaya.
To be selected as an ITA Scholar-Athlete, students must have a minimum 3.5 GPA.
For a team to earn the All-Academic Team honor, the team must have a have a team grade point average of 3.2 or above (on a 4.00 scale). All varsity letter winners are factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year.
Benedict was one of three women’s tennis teams in the SIAC recognized by the ITA as an All-Academic team, joined by Clark Atlanta University and Spring Hill College.
The Lady Tigers have one of the most successful tennis programs in the SIAC, winning three consecutive conference titles from 2016-18, while finishing second in 2015 and third in 2019, before last spring’s season was cut short due to COVID-19.
