Williamsburg, KY – After posting their highest ranking in program history to close out the season, the UC women's tennis program has excelled on the court and in the classroom earning a pair ITA NAIA Women's Academic Awards, announced by ITA officials on Thursday.  Cumberlands had nine student-athletes be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete, while the team was one of 40 NAIA schools that earned ITA All-Academic Team.

The Patriots nine academic recipients, were the third most in the NAIA this season.   Earning the honors are Johanna Beckmann, Megan Freeman, Anna Grace, Tessa Gray, Satsuki Mitani, Tomomi Nagao, Tess Perkins, Catherine Rae, and Lilli Vance.

UC went 23-6 overall on the season with a 9-1 record in conference play en route to capturing their first Mid-South Conference Tournament championship in program history.  The Patriots closed out the year ranked 11^th in the NAIA Top-25 Coaches Poll, after qualifying for the fifth consecutive NAIA National Tournament.  Nagao and Beckmann were both all-conference selections.

To qualify for Scholar-Athlete must have a GPA of 3.5 for the current academic year as Scholar-Teams must have a team GPA of 3.2 or higher.

Across the NAIA, 281 NAIA women's tennis student-athletes earned this distinction.  Cumberlands was one of four Mid-South schools to garner ITA Scholar-Team honors.

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