Defiance College Women’s Tennis is #1 in nation academically

DEFIANCE, Ohio—The Defiance College Women’s Tennis team was recently honored as the best academic team in all of NCAA Division III by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association while also being named an All-Academic Team by the ITA for the sixth consecutive year.

The Lady Jackets’ team grade point average of 3.71 ranked them above all 360 Division III programs nationally, while the sixth year of All-Academic recognition resulted from maintaining a team GPA of 3.20 or better each year.

Team members earning this recognition from the 2004 squad were seniors Kylee VonDeylen, Erin Williams and Kacy VanderHorst, juniors Traci Dye and Sarah Shuff, sophomore Abby Reichard and freshman Amber Evans.

VonDeylen earned four-straight All-Academic awards, while also being named a Scholar-Athlete (3.5 GPA or better) by Defiance College, received the AAUW Women’s Scholastic Athlete Award twice, and also earned All-Heartland Conference honors in 2003 and 2004.

The Women’s Tennis squad also led Defiance College athletic teams in team GPA for the fourth-straight year.

Head coach Greg Reineke spoke of his team’s athletic and academic performance, “When players graduate from Defiance College they will have more than the experience of playing tennis. They will have the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in today’s world.”

“They will also be able to play a game that they can play for the rest of their lives,” Reineke ended.

The 2005 Yellow Jackets open their season on Saturday, September 3rd at Franklin College when they face the Grizzlies and Mount St. Joseph starting at 10:00 a.m. The Jackets first home match is slated for September 13th against Bluffton University at 4:00 p.m.