Murray State University Athletics
Women's tennis team scores big on the court and in the classroom
9/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Murray State women's tennis team reached an outstanding goal for their academic efforts last season, receiving the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's All-Academic Team award. The award is given to the team with the highest collective grade-point average, and the Racers' 3.83 GPA stood out as the best of any MSU athletic team.
Coach Connie Keasling said this comes as no surprise to her.
“Last year, the players on the team pushed each other to new heights,” Keasling said. “The past couple of years, each team has reached their goals and set the academic bar a little bit higher. It's a real credit to their yearly GPA's.”
As well as the team's distinguished academic efforts, the team also had several individual achievements that were worth noting. Sophomore Christina Hall, senior Jaclyn Leeper and junior Tami McQueen all received the OVC Medal of Honor, given to all athletes with the highest GPA in the conference in their sport.
In addition to receiving the OVC Medal of Honor, McQueen was also nominated for College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American last year.
Currently, McQueen and Leeper are submitting information to be selected for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, where the Trust looks for students of exceptional academic achievement and scholarly promise for whom advanced study at the University of Cambridge would be particularly appropriate.
Senior Jennifer Ward also has been selected to the Student Athletic Advisory Council, and will be attending the NCAA Leadership Conference held in Orlando, Fla., as a student representative as part of 325 student-athletes and 50 coaches and administrators.
The NCAA Leadership Conference provides NCAA student-athletes with a forum to openly discuss issues that may affect them on their campuses and in their communities, while also providing them with the opportunity to enhance their leadership, communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills. The Leadership Conference also promotes better communication among student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty and communities. The five-day Leadership Conference consists of daily exercises and activities to help the student-athletes develop as individuals and contributing members to a group. Ward has done several leadership-related activities out in the community, which led to her being nominated to the SAAC.
“One of the biggest reasons we feel we can go after the higher standards is not because of high ACT scores, but because of the professors and academic support," Keasling said. "Our players know they are not just a number. The professors really do care about us as an individual and will go the extra mile and that makes us want to do even more."
While the tennis team has proven themselves in the classrooms, they are no slouches on the court. They won three straight OVC titles from 2001 to 2003.
“On the tennis court, we don't have one individual that really stands out," Keasling said. "We all go into each match together. We know we are going to have our good days and our bad days, but we continue to support each other and give it our best.”
Keasling says that she has a very diverse group of players, and just because every player didn't get an individual honor doesn't mean anything because this was a complete team effort.
“We take pride in our academic success, and this team loves challenges," she said. " They love to compete and they are hard workers. What a combination!"
