Aug. 2, 2004

The Mizzou women's tennis team not only had a great season on the court in 2004, but kept pace in the classroom receiving both individual and team recognition. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association, collegiate tennis' governing body, named the Tiger netters as an ITA Division I All-Academic team. This is the first time the Tiger squad has garnered this national academic award as a team. In order to receive the award, a team needs to hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher (on a 4.00 scale).

Picking up individual academic honors for the Tigers were seniors Urska Juric and Lucie Ruskova who both received ITA Scholar Athlete recognition. In order to be named, they had to have a grade point average of at least a 3.50 for their career and be varsity letter winners.

"I could not be more proud of what this team has done in the classroom," said MU Coach Blake Starkey. "A lot of people don't realize just how hard these player work in all phases of their lives, especially on the academic side. They have to make lots of sacrifices. I know exactly how seriously these kids take their academics, and they earn awards of this nature through nothing more than sacrifice and hard work. They deserve this, and we're very proud of them."