2022 ITA DII Academic Awards

TEMPE, Ariz. – Showing their dominance both on and off the court, Academy of Art women's tennis has netted a handful of academic awards from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as five Urban Knights in sophomores Yun "Nicole" Shiau and Viktoria Leth along with freshmen Julia Ortega, Erica Hellbe and Aitana Comas Adam have been named ITA Scholar-Athletes, while ART U as a squad was named an All-Academic Team on Tuesday. 

"I want to give a big shoutout to Nicole, Erica, Viktoria, Julia, and Aitana for this award," said Head Coach Clarisse Baca. "Being an artist and a student-athlete is challenging because sometimes your creativity and inspiration don't come easily. Some assignments and projects take longer than expected, but these women have worked hard in the classroom every single day and they've shown that with hard work anything is possible. I'm very proud of them for doing their best with their projects and I can't wait for next year."

To be named an ITA All-Academic Team, all varsity letter winners are factored into the cumulative team GPA for the current academic year, and the team must have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or above on a 4.00 scale. For the 2021-22 calendar year, Academy of Art was one of 110 teams to be named an All-Academic Team, slotting in with an overall GPA of 3.50 (which earned women's tennis the ARTY for Best Team GPA). This is the fifth year overall that Academy of Art has been named an ITA All-Academic Team, first earning the honor back in 2014 before doing so in each of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons. 

After establishing a four-match winning streak in which they lost just one game to help send their record above .500, the Knights returned to the Pacific West Conference Tournament after a 10-7 record in the regular season, ending the year with an inspiring 4-3 victory over No. 66 Fresno Pacific on the final day of the season. Riding the momentum, ART U rolled through the opening round before scoring an upset win over No. 22 and #3 seed Biola in the PacWest Quarterfinals to earn a berth in the semis for the first time since 2019, but ultimately fell to No. 18 and #2 seed Azusa Pacific. 

The requirement to be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete is that a student-athlete must have a GPA of at least a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale for the academic year, a feat which was accomplished by a total of 715 student-athletes across the nation in 2022, four more than earned the award in 2021. A program-record five Urban Knights earned the honor in 2022, which tops the previous record of three that was achieved last year in 2021. This is now the fourth consecutive and sixth year overall that ART U has had a Knight earn an ITA Scholar-Athlete honor, with the first two instances occurring in consecutive seasons in 2014 and 2015 before doing so in each of the past four year. This also marks the fifth time that Academy of Art has had multiple honorees (others: 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021). 

Yun "Nicole" Shiau
Awards continue to roll in for Shiau, who was just last month recognized as the 2022 PacWest Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year thanks to a perfect 4.00 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies for the spring 2021 and fall 2022 semesters. Her dominance both off and on the court, where she was 2021 ITA West Region Doubles Champion as well as All-PacWest First Team Doubles and Second Team Singles selection, led her to claim the department's 2022 Richard & Clara Gil Stephens Urban Knight of the Year honor. In mid-May, Shiau became the first Academy of Art women's tennis student-athlete to receive CoSIDA Academic All-District honors. This is the second time that Shiau has earned the Scholar-Athlete honor in her career. 

Shiau posted an 8-3 record this season exclusively from court one along with partner and fellow All-PacWest honoree Sofia Ragona, and the duo represented the Knights in Rome, Ga. on the national level at the ITA Cup after claiming the west region title, where they lost in the quarterfinals to the eventual champions. Ranked as high as No. 6 nationally in 2022, the tandem would clinch the doubles point for ART U in their opening-round win against MSU Denver in the PacWest Championship Tournament and added another victory over Biola's top team in the quarterfinals. At one time enjoying a national singles rank as high as No. 42 in NCAA DII, Shiau tallied an 9-5 record which included a 2-0 mark from the No. 1 position and a 4-1 record from the No. 2 position. Opening the season on a five-match winning streak, Shiau lost just one set across the nine matches that she won.

Viktoria Leth
A GPA of 3.71 in the School of Interaction & UI/UX Design helped Leth to garner her first All-Academic PacWest honor in 2022, as the first year Urban Knight simultaneously played to a 10-5 overall singles record with a 2-0 mark from court three and a 7-4 record from court five. After winning her ART U debut match against Dominican to open the season, Leth eventually posted a four-match winning streak that led her to win nine of her 12 matches overall, becoming a reliable piece to the bottom half of the Academy of Art lineup. Getting her first taste of the postseason, the Swedish native captured a a crucial straight-set win during the quarterfinal upset of Biola in the PacWest Tournament. Meanwhile, she posted a pair of three-match winning streaks in doubles play, ultimately picking up a mark of 8-6. This is the first time Leth has earned the honor in her career. 

Julia Ortega
Another anchor in the middle of the Knights lineup, Ortega shined off the court just as well as she posted a 3.94 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies en route to another All-Academic PacWest award, the third of her career. In competition, Ortega notched a 10-4 overall singles record with the majority of her wins coming on court four where she picked up a mark of 7-3. She started the year on the longest winning streak by an Urban Knight in 2021-22 when she won six straight matches, and closed out the year with a win in singles play against No. 48 Fresno Pacific in the battle for third place at the PacWest Tournament. Though she only competed in four doubles matches, Ortega's winning percentage was strong as she was 3-1 over that span with all three victories coming on court two. This is the second time Ortega has earned the honor in her career. 

Erica Hellbe
In addition to compiling a 3.50 GPA in the School of Interaction & UI/UX Design, Hellbe played to a 5-7 record in doubles play which includes a trio of wins from court two. Her best stretch came when she won three straight doubles matches early on in the year after the season opener, and she captured her final doubles win against Cal State Los Angeles just before the end of the regular season. Meanwhile, Hellbe was 2-4 in singles action which included wins in ART U victories over Holy Names and Stanislaus State. This is the first time Hellbe has earned the honor in her career. 

Aitana Comas Adam
Also earning an All-Academic PacWest award was Comas Adam thanks to a 3.94 GPA in the School of Interaction & UI/UX Design, but Comas Adam did not appear this season due to injury. Last season, the Spaniard played to a 5-6 overall singles record with all five wins coming on court four. Crossing over to doubles play, Comas Adam picked up another five wins with an overall mark of 5-7, four of which came on court three. This is the third time that Comas Adam has earned the honor in her career, which is an ART U program record.