TEMPE, Ariz. – The McKendree University women's tennis team has been named one of the NCAA Division II Women's All-Academic Team as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on Tuesday afternoon.

Along with earning an All-Academic Team accolade from the ITA, seven Bearcats student-athletes were named NCAA Division II ITA Scholar-Athletes for the 2021-22 school year. The Bearcats women's players honored were junior Mariana Caicedo Mora (Cucuta, Colombia/American International School of Mallorca), junior Viola Cipriani (Arezzo, Italy/Liceo Classico Francesco Petrarca), sophomore Rhyan Cook (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickington North), sophomore Bailey Grigg (Marine, Ill./Triad), sophomore Emily Kettering (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community West), junior Anna Marison (Belleville, Ill./Mascoutah) and sophomore Maria Vitoria Salomao (Minas Geraids, Brazil/Belo Horizonte).

To be named an ITA Scholar-Athlete, a student-athlete must meet the following requirements: have a grade point average of 3.5 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year and be listed on the institution's eligibility form.

Meanwhile, to be named an ITA All-Academic Team, the program must meet the following requirements: have a team grade point average of 3.2 or above (on a 4.0 scale), all student-athletes included should be on the school's institutional eligibility form and all varsity letterwinners should be factored into the cumulative team GPA for the 2021-22 academic year. McKendree's women's tennis team recorded a 3.475 GPA during the 2021-22 school year.

McKendree was one of 110 NCAA Division II schools and one of 10 women's teams from the Great Lakes Valley Conference to earn an All-Academic Team honor as the Bearcats were joined on the list by Drury, Illinois-Springfield, Lewis, Maryville, Rockhurst, Southern Indiana, Southwest Baptist, University of Indianapolis and UMSL. 

Additionally, a total of 52 different schools had at least seven or more of their student-athletes named to the ITA Scholar-Athlete List, including Fairmont State leading the way with 13 selections, while Lincoln Memorial was right behind with 12 overall selections. Among GLVC schools, McKendree's seven selections was tied for second with Illinois-Springfield. Rockhurst was tops among GLVC schools with eight student-athletes selected.