TEMPE, Ariz. – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced its Academic Awards on Thursday and Mizzou Tennis was well represented. Mizzou received the ITA All-Academic Team award while sophomore Clare Raley (Atlanta, Ga.) and junior Bea Machado Santos (Lisbon, Portugal) were both named ITA Scholar-Athletes.
As a team, Mizzou exceed the cumulative 3.20 grade point average requirement (on a 4.00 scale) to earn the All-Academic Team award. In the 2015 fall semester, Mizzou recorded a 3.46 GPA, the highest semester GPA in program history.
To earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status, a player must be a varsity letter winner, have a GPA of 3.50 or higher for the current academic year and have been enrolled at the present school for at least two semesters. Raley, a Journalism major, and Santos, an Interdisciplinary Studies major, both met the required criteria to earn the distinction.
Santos earned Second Team All-SEC honors in 2015-16 following an at-large selection to the NCAA Singles Tournament, becoming the first Mizzou player to qualify for the NCAA Tournament since 2003. Santos recorded five SEC singles wins and six wins over ranked opponents, both team highs. The Lisbon, Portugal native was awarded the ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award for the central region for her leadership on and off the court.
When Raley committed to Mizzou prior to the 2014-15 season, she was Mizzou's first ever top-50 recruit, ranking as high as No. 35 in the nation by TennisRecruiting.net. The Atlanta, Ga. native posted a 19-10 record in doubles play this past season, recording three SEC doubles wins, second-most on the team.
For all the latest on Mizzou Tennis, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook (MizzouTennis), Twitter (@MizzouTennis), and Instagram (@Mizzou_Tennis).
NEWS: Raley & Santos Earn ITA Scholar-Athlete Honor, #Mizzou Receives Team Award#MIZ ????
— Mizzou Tennis (@MizzouTennis) July 22, 2016
[https://t.co/OZipHzbPQJ] pic.twitter.com/lX5lZ8Kx9w