ITA men's academic awards
ITA women's academic awards

TEMPE, Ariz. (August 12, 2020) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s and women’s tennis teams have combined to have 15 student-athletes earn Scholar-Athlete accolades from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, as announced earlier this summer by the ITA. In addition, both the men and women earned All-Academic distinctions at the team level as well.

All 10 members of the men’s team were honored by the ITA: freshman Joshua Arnold (Scarborough, Trinidad and Tobago), senior Yuval Barak (Zicron Ya’akov, Israel), freshman Evan Bennett (Rindge, N.H.), freshman Joel Cladera (Palma de Mallorca, Spain), sophomore Preston Gordon (Essex Junction, Vt.), freshman Paul McLellan (Nairobi, Kenya), freshman Alejandro Ortiz (Madrid, Spain), junior Nkrumah Patrick (Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago), senior Ryan Plummer (Raymond, Maine) and senior Matthew Toombs (Pleasanton, Calif.).

From the women’s team, five players earned Scholar-Athlete plaudits: freshman Laura Alvarez Tello (Vigo, Spain), graduate student Himani Mor (Sonipat, India), freshman Jillian Pagliuca (Taunton, Mass.), senior Sarah Rich (Windham, Maine) and senior Brigid Washburn (Greentown, Pa.).

To be eligible for selection as an ITA Scholar-Athlete, a student-athlete must have posted a grade-point average of at least 3.5 over the course of the academic year. At the team level, All-Academic honors were bestowed on all programs which posted a team GPA of 3.2 or higher.

A total of 593 men and 762 women earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors at the Division II level. In addition, 95 men’s teams and 129 women’s program’s earned All-Academic accolades.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics’ official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce tennis apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.shopfpuravens.com).