The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Tennis Teams Tops In The Classroom Again
8/24/2000 | Women's Tennis
Aug. 24, 2000
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss is one of only two NCAA Division I universities to have both its men's and women's tennis teams finish the 1999-2000 season ranked in the top 20 and earn the ITA All-Academic Team Award. Baylor University is the other school to achieve this distinction.
The ITA All-Academic Team Award is given to those teams who register a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better on a 4.0 scale. The Lady Rebels led all women's sports at Ole Miss with a 3.55 GPA. The Rebels led all men's sports with a 3.24 GPA.
The Rebels, who finished the year ranked No. 14 in the nation, are one of only two teams in the nation to finish the year ranked in the top 15 and be named All-Academic. They also earned this honor in 1997.
"This honor places the University of Mississippi among the elite teams of the nation," Rebel head coach Billy Chadwick said. "I am extremely proud of every team member and their `commitment to excellence' on and off the court."
The Lady Rebels, who finished the year ranked No. 18 in the nation, earned the ITA's All-Academic Team Award for the fourth consecutive year. They are one of five teams to end the year ranked in the top 20 and receive ITA All-Academic honors.
Irena and Ivona Mihailova were among 112 women's tennis players from around the nation, and David Blackburn joined 55 men's players to be named ITA Scholar Athletes. To be eligible a student-athlete must be a junior or senior and maintain a 3.5 GPA.
Blackburn is an outstanding student being named to the Chancellor's Honor Roll every semester. The senior Accounting major is a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, who was named the Cellular South Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the Georgia football game and elected Colonel Reb last year. Blackburn became the second Academic All-American this year for the Rebels. Senior James Shortall, who earned All-American honors by reaching the Final Four at the NCAA Doubles Championships, was named to the GTE/CoSIDA District VI Spring At-Large second team in May.
Irena and Ivona both graduated from the University this past May. Irena, a recipient of the Taylor Medal for the School of Accounting and a winner of a $5,000 SEC Postgraduate Scholarship, was also named to the GTE/CoSIDA Spring At-Large Academic All-America First Team. Ivona, a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, earned GTE/CoSIDA District VI honors.
"Ivona and Irena distinguished themselves at the University of Mississippi as being student-athletes of outstanding talent and commitment," Lady Rebel head coach Jerry Montgomery said. "This was reflected in many ways - their playing an important part in our winning the SEC Tournament and the impressive record that they set academically. It is very appropriate for them both to have been selected ITA Scholar Athletes. They will long be remembered at Ole Miss for the contributions they made."
The Rebels return four players from last year's lineup, while the Lady Rebels have three back from last year's top six.