Women's Tennis Team and Four Players Earn Academic Honors from ITA
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's tennis team has received All-Academic Team status from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) for the 2019-20 season. Four Bearcat women's tennis players also qualified as ITA Scholar-Athletes. Willamette players earning the individual academic honor were Sara Dean (Jr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS), Sienna Ginsburg (Jr., Bend, OR/Summit HS), Rebecca Griffith (Fy., Fort Collins, CO/Rocky Mountain HS), and Sylvia Marr (Jr., Grants Pass, OR/Hidden Valley HS).
"I am so proud of our ladies to achieve this team award and congratulations to our individual players as well. The women's tennis team takes great pride in being student-athletes and representing Willamette athletics."
-- Willamette Director of Tennis/Head Coach Rick Wood
Hundreds of All-Academic Teams and thousands of ITA Scholar-Athletes were selected nationwide from women's tennis squads competing in NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, the NAIA and junior colleges.
The All-Academic Team award was received with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or higher on a 4.0 scale during the academic year. All varsity letterwinners were included in each team's overall GPA. Willamette's team qualified for the award for the third consecutive season.
Scholar-Athlete status was achieved if a player was a varsity letterwinner with a grade point average of at least 3.50 (4.0 scale) during the 2019-20 academic year. Athletes had to attend their current college or university for a least two semesters.
Willamette is a member of NCAA Division III and the Northwest Conference. In Division III, a total of 175 teams were chosen for the women's All-Academic list and 1,058 women's tennis players registered Scholar-Athlete status. In the NWC, All-Academic Team honors were awarded to seven women's teams, while 39 women's players were named ITA Scholar-Athletes.
ITA Scholar-Athlete Award
Sarah Dean (Jr.) qualified for ITA Scholar-Athlete honors for the third time. She has attained a 19-20 overall singles record in three years at Willamette, and she has competed in a total of 38 doubles matches. During her first year, she recorded an 11-6 mark in singles and went 8-8 in doubles with Marr. She has competed in singles during all 39 dual matches in her career.
In NWC competition as a sophomore, Dean won singles matches against Pacific Lutheran University, George Fox University and Lewis & Clark College. She was named Second Team All-NWC in 2018-19. Dean reached the consolation finals of the singles bracket at the Ojai Tournament in 2018-19. She is working toward a double major in Politics, Policy, Law and Ethics, as well as in Spanish, to go along with a minor in American Ethnic Studies.
Siena Ginsburg (Jr.) has participated in 36 singles matches and 37 doubles matches during her Willamette career. She earned ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition for the second time, after also receiving the honor in 2017-18.
As a first-year student-athlete, Ginsburg registered a record of 8-7 in singles competition, including 8-3 at #5 singles. She had a five-match winning streak during the season
Ginsburg competed in singles and doubles in seven of the Bearcats' eight dual matches in 2019-20. She is majoring in Biology at Willamette.
Rebecca Griffith (Fy.) competed in five singles matches and five doubles matches as a first-year player for the Bearcats in 2019-20. She rallied to defeat Gillian Mead of Pacific University at #6 singles in a super tie-breaker played instead of a third set, 0-6, 6-4, 10-8. She played in three matches at #5 singles, two at #6 singles, and five at #3 doubles.
As a student at Willamette, Griffith is majoring in Psychology. She joined the Bearcats after attending Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she took seventh place at the State Championships as a senior. Griffith was a member of the National Honor Society at RMHS.
Sylvia Marr (Jr.) received ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition for the third time. During her Willamette career, she has seen action in 38 singles matches and 37 doubles matches. In 2017-18, she played singles in all 17 dual matches and competed in doubles 16 times. As a sophomore in 2018-19, she represented the Bearcats in single and doubles action in 13 of 14 dual matches. She played singles and doubles in all eight dual matches in 2019-20.
As a first-year in 2017-18, Marr combined with Dean for an 8-8 record at #2 doubles. In 2019-20, Marr played #3 singles six times, while competing once at #1 singles and #2 singles. She played six matches at #2 doubles and twice at #1 doubles. Marr is majoring in Politics, Policy, Law and Ethics with a minor in Civic Communication and Media.
Note: Academic year listed for each player is for the 2019-20 season.