2023 ITA Division II Academic Awards

TEMPE, Ariz. – Academy of Art women's tennis made history with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's announcement of academic awards as seven Urban Knights in juniors Yun "Nicole" Shiau and Viktoria Leth along with sophomores Julia Ortega, Erica Hellbe, Aitana Comas Adam, and Maria Vittoria Casucci, and freshman Jessica Plazas were named ITA Scholar-Athletes while ART U as a squad collected another All-Academic Team selection on Tuesday. 

"I want to really congratulate the whole team for being recognized by the ITA along with our seven student-athletes honored," said Head Coach Clarisse Baca. "They are proof that if you work hard, especially on the days that are more challenging, you get rewarded. I'm happy to see them recognized on a national scale."

To be named an ITA All-Academic Team, all student-athletes are factored into the cumulative team grade point average 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 2022-23 calendar year, Academy of Art was one of 97 teams to be named an All-Academic Team, slotting in with an overall GPA of 3.76 (which contributed to the team earning the ARTY for Best Team GPA). This is the sixth 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, 2021, and 2022 seasons. To read more about what Academy of Art achieved this season, click here.

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 623 student-athletes across the nation in 2023. A program-record seven Urban Knights earned the honor in 2023, which tops the previous record of five that was achieved last year in 2022. This is now the fifth consecutive and seventh 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 the program did so in each of the past four years. This also marks the sixth time that Academy of Art has had multiple honorees (others: 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022).

Yun "Nicole" Shiau
Working toward what was a perfect 4.00 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies across the 2022 Fall and 2023 Spring semesters, Shiau finished her collegiate career at ART U with more than 35 victories across singles and doubles. Twice the recipient of the Best Individual GPA by a female student-athlete and the 2022 Urban Knight of the Year over the past two ARTYs Awards, she went 4-6 in both singles and doubles in 2023 including an undefeated record in two matches in the third singles position. Over the course of her stellar career, Shiau was also the 2022 PacWest Women's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year, two-time CSC Academic All-District Team, and three-time Academic All-PacWest. This is the third time that Shiau has earned the Scholar-Athlete honor in her career.

Viktoria Leth
Leth's second season with the program saw her contribute 15 wins across singles and doubles play as she shined in the classroom with a 3.87 GPA in the School of Interaction & UI/UX Design combining the 2022 Fall and 2023 Spring semesters. Leth, who finished with four consecutive wins in both singles and doubles, was undefeated in seven singles matches across the third and fourth position as well as 7-2 on the third doubles court, helping move her to 18-9 overall in her singles career and 15-9 in doubles competition. A recently-minted two-time Academic All-PacWest Team and CSC Academic All-District Team honoree, this also marks the second time Leth has earned the honor of ITA Scholar-Athlete in her career. 

Julia Ortega
Ortega delivered nine of her 32 career singles victories in 2023 while working toward a 3.84 GPA during the 2022 Fall and 2023 Spring semesters in the School of Communications & Media Technologies. She picked up six wins in the second singles position for the Urban Knights, defeated one regionally-ranked singles opponent, and went on to be named the team's Most Valuable Player. Finishing her four years with the program at 32-14 overall in singles, Ortega has been a four-time Academic All-PacWest recipient, claimed her first CSC Academic All-District Team selection this past season, and this is the third time Ortega has earned the ITA Scholar-Athlete honors in her career. 

Erica Hellbe
Thriving in the School of Interaction & UI/UX Design with a 3.85 GPA over the past two semesters, Hellbe earned four singles wins and seven doubles victories all alongside Plazas, leading the two to be named All-PacWest Second Team by the season's end. Hellbe, a three-time Academic All-PacWest honoree and CSC Academic All-District Team this past year, tied with three others (including Leth) for the most doubles victories on the team, notching two three-match win streaks along the way. This is the second time Hellbe has been an ITA Scholar-Athlete in her career.

Aitana Comas Adam
Sporting a 3.84 GPA in the School of Interaction & UI/UX Design this past Fall and Spring, Comas Adam made her return to the court in 2023 for the first time in two years. She fittingly found herself winning in straight sets on Senior Day then picked up two more singles victories in the Pacific West Conference Tournament thereafter, never needing a third frame. She would finish her career with a total of 12 singles wins, triumphing in the third through sixth positions throughout her time with Academy of Art. This is the third time that Comas Adam has been named an ITA Scholar-Athlete in her career.

Maria Vittoria Casucci
Regularly found competing in the team's top two singles and doubles positions in 2023, Casucci worked her way to a 3.55 GPA in the School of Communications & Media Technologies this past Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. She recorded three victories in the top singles spot, including a season sweep of UH Hilo's Akari Ichikawa both in straight sets. Meanwhile, Casucci would pair with Shiau for three of her four doubles wins with two coming in the PacWest Tournament including a 6-4 triumph over CUI's Jessica Bear and Tiffany Carrillo who were ranked among the nation's top 50. This is the first ITA Scholar-Athlete for Casucci in her career.

Jessica Plazas
Making her dynamic debut in 2023, Plazas not only put together a 3.76 GPA in the School of Acting over her first two semesters at the collegiate level, but also emerged as the ITA West Region Rookie of the Year. At one point ranked the No. 36 singles player in the nation and No. 7 in the region, she was honored with All-PacWest Second Team (Singles) and Third Team (Doubles) selections after she went 7-4 including a 5-3 mark from the No. 1 position in singles and 7-3 exclusively from No. 1 in doubles with Hellbe. In singles, Plazas amassed a 2-1 record against regionally-ranked competition and won six of her seven matches in straight sets. Among those victories included a 6-2, 6-4 victory on the first court over Arianna Audelo (No. 11 in the region) during ART U's match against No. 20 Point Loma. Perhaps her most impressive win came late in the season against the region's No. 10 ranked player Makenna Livingston of Colorado Mesa, which was the Acting major's lone three-set victory of the year with a 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-8) decision.