Aug. 20, 2009

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's tennis team earned its 11th-straight Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team award, while individually, five Illini were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Both Orange and Blue teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season and finished in the top three in the Big Ten.

Megan Fudge, Leigh Finnegan and Christine Stromberg were named ITA Scholar-Athletes for the second consecutive year, while Kristina Minor received the honor for the second time in her career and first since 2007.

Representing the Fighting Illini men's tennis team was Abe Souza, who received the ITA Scholar-Athlete honor for the first time in his career. It also marked the seventh straight year the men's squad has had at least one representative on the list.

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 eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA/NAIA/NJCAA eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2008 and spring 2009).

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).