MT TENNIS EARNS ITA ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS

FIVE MEN, FIVE WOMEN HONORED AS ITA SCHOLAR-ATHLETES

@MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Both of Middle Tennessee's tennis teams were honored as ITA All-Academic Teams for their efforts in the classroom throughout the 2015-16 academic year, the ITA announced Thursday.

Dima Zyhmantovich, Miguel Negre Fernandez, Gonzalo Morell Raschiatore, Luis Morillo Diaz and Jacob Pugh were named ITA Scholar-Athletes for the men's tennis team. The women's team also had five ITA Scholar-Athletes: Giulia Squadrin, Sarah Sediri, Brittany Huxley, Luisa Zirilli and Costanza Magazzini.

The 2016 ITA All-Academic honor is men's tennis head coach Jimmy Borendame's fourth since taking over at MT in 2011. Borendame is now responsible for 15 ITA Scholar-Athletes with the Blue Raiders.

"I'm proud of our guys and the way they performed on the court as well as in the classroom this year," Borendame said. "We always make it a point for the guys to work on their studies every time they get a chance, both at home and on the road."

Charlie Ramsay capped off his first season at the helm of the women's tennis team with his first career ITA All-Academic Team, along with his first five ITA Scholar-Athletes.

"They put a ton of effort into their studies," Ramsay said. "They know student comes before athlete, and they're very self-motivated in the classroom. We know we don't have to worry too much about their studies because they take care of it."

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 are factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year.

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 through senior year).

Division I Men's ITA All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes
Division I Women's ITA All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes