Aug. 13, 2007

Fairfield, CT - The Sacred Heart University women's tennis team, under head coach Mike Guastelle, earned the distinction of being an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team for the sixth straight year. The Pioneers, one of four schools from the Northeast Conference and nine schools from New England that posted a team grade point average of 3.20 or better to earn a spot on the list. Along with earning team honors, six of Guastelle's players earned ITA Scholar Athlete honors.

Earning ITA Scholar-Athlete honors for the Pioneers was Pam Pillo (Shelton, CT) who graduated earning the honor each of her four years at SHU. Jessica Schnell (Schenectady, NY), and Mandy Finkelstein (Portland, CT) each were named to the team for the second straight year while Nicole Betz (Long Beach, NY), Julianne Kasinow (Wall, NJ) and Nicole Keller (Waldwick, NJ) were first time honorees.

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/CAJUCO eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year.

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. This award honors freshman through seniors year.