FIVE NAMED TO TENNIS ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Five Old Dominion tennis players have been recognized by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as Academic All-Americans.
The men's side was represented by senior Pye Kyu of Kingston, Jamaica, while women's team members senior Patricia Araujo of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, sophomore Nataly Cahana of Quriat Bialik, Israel, senior Mily Kannarkat of Virginia Beach and junior Julia Sotiriu of Wendelstien, Germany, were honored.
To qualify for an ITA Academic All-American team a student-athlete needs to be a varsity letter winner and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher.
In addition, Kannarkat was named for a second time as a Verizon Academic All-American (third team) as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. This is her third ITA Academic All-America distinction. She earned a 3.97 GPA as a biology/pre-med major and was runner-up for the university's prestigious Kaufman Prize. The 2002 women's tennis team's Most Valuable Player and Second Team All-CAA honoree, Kannarkat opened her season with a top 32 finished at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. She went on to close out her final year as a Lady Monarch with a 15-5 dual meet record, which included a 12-1 mark at fourth singles and victories in 13 of her last 14 matches.
Kyu joined the Monarch men's tennis team in the spring of 2002 and finished with 3.75 GPA as a biology major. Kyu went 1-1 in his dual meet singles matches and posted a 2-1 doubles mark.
Araujo earned her first ITA Academic All-American accolade after carrying a 3.74 GPA as a fine arts major. She collected a 10-11 dual meet singles record this past spring along with a 13-4 doubles mark.
Cahana picked up her first ITA Academic All-American award, but has previously been honored as a two time ITA All-American. Cahana was a number four seed at the NCAA Women's Tennis Individual Tournament and reached the finals of the Riviera All-American Championship. She posted a 3.82 as an international business major.
Sotiriu was named to her second ITA Academic All-America team with a 3.97 GPA in international business. She registered a 7-14 dual meet singles record and a 12-8 doubles mark.
In addition the Lady Monarch women's team of Araujo, Cahana, Kannarkat, senior Ana Radeljevic of Zagreb, Croatia, and sophomore Lara van Rooyen of Pretoria, South Africa, were recognized as an ITA All-Academic Team with a cumulative team grade point average of a 3.70.