Women's Tennis Honored with ITA National Academic Awards

SKILLMAN,N.J. – The academic achievements of Belmont women's tennis team were honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as they announced their Academic Awards for the 2011-12 school year.

The women's tennis team was named an ITA All-American Team, which marks the seventh time since 2003 that the women's program has been honored with this award.  To be chosen for this honor, a squad must have a cumulative team grade point average (GPA) of 3.20 or above (on a 4.0 scale) and all team members must have competed during the 2011-12 season.  The women's team finished the year with a team GPA of 3.34.  They were among 107 teams honored in Division I and one of just two Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) schools to earn the award. 

In addition, three Belmont women's tennis players , Fabiana Mersan, Natalia Nunes, and Laura Stack, earned the ITA's Scholar-Athlete Award.  To earn this award, a player must be a varsity letterwinner, have a GPA of 3.50, and been enrolled at the school for two semesters.  These three were among 10 OVC tennis players to earn this honor. 

Fabiana Mersan, a rising senior from Asuncion, Paraguay, earned the award for the first time.  The Entrepreneurship major competed at the number one and two positions and played in all but two events last season.

Rising senior Natalia Nunes was honored for the third straight year.  The Rio de Janiero, Brazil native is majoring in International Business led the team in doubles wins with 15 and ranked second in singles wins with 10.  She was also named to the A-Sun All-Academic Team for Women's Tennis.

Graduated senior Laura Stack was honored for the first time.  The Brentwood, Tennessee native ranked second on the team in singles wins with 10 and finished with 31 career victories.  She graduated from Belmont last May with a degree in English Literature.

For more information on the ITA Academic Awards, go to www.itatennis.com.