2019 ITA All-Academic Teams & Scholar Athletes

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Excelling both on and off the court, seniors Klara Thell-Lenntorp and Taisiia Andrieieva have been named 2019 All-Academic Scholar Athletes. As a team, Academy of Art women's tennis was given the ITA All-Academic Team award for achieving a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or above.

"Being a scholar athlete is a huge accomplishment for Klara and Taisiia," said head coach Clarisse Baca. "These two were able to achieve that and maintain a 3.5 GPA while being seniors, playing a very competitive schedule, and finishing in the top-15 teams in the nation. Both of these players represent hard work on and off the court. It's going to be really exciting to see what they do next when they graduate from Academy of Art. And I'm sure they will maintain their discipline in their further endeavors."

The prestigious ITA Scholar Athlete award is given to student-athletes who are varsity letter winners, have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and have been enrolled at their present school for at least two full semesters. 

Thell-Lenntorp maintained an outstanding 3.7 in Communications and Media Technologies while Andrieieva earned a 3.695 in Motion Pictures and Television -- Cinematography. This is Andrieieva's second ITA academic award and Thell-Lenntorp's first. 

Thell-Lenntorp's academic award comes after a landslide of athletic awards, starting with an All-PacWest First Team selection in both singles and doubles. She went on to earn ITA Most Improved Senior and her second consecutive ITA All-American selection in doubles. The Communications and Media Technologies major ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation in doubles and ended the season with a doubles record of 16-3 and a singles record of 12-4 exclusively playing out of the top position. Andrieieva also made her contributions to a team that ranked as high as No. 5 in the nation with her 5-5 doubles record and five singles wins. At the end of the year she was awarded the Megan Bushnell Female Servant Leadership Award at the sixth annual ARTYs for her work in the community, dedication to her craft in the classroom, and inspirational athletic efforts. 

This is the team's first academic award since 2014, and second total in program history. ART U tennis produced a sensational 3.40 GPA across the 2018-2019 academic year.