Many UTM netters post perfect grades

Posted: Friday, May 18, 2012 12:00 pm

Out of eight UT Martin tennis players who made up the Skyhawks’ roster in 2012, it was announced that seven have accomplished perfect 4.0 Grade Point Averages for the spring semester.
The seven players who achieved academic perfection were Alice Laing, Katie McCall, Jessica Silva, Ivon Simic, Jodie Tiley, Johanie Van Zyl and Anna Winkelmann. The other player — Anna Marie Herbold — tallied a strong 3.67 GPA this spring. Also off the court, it was recently announced that the 2012 squad raised nearly $5,000 for the Ronald McDonald House.
When taken into consideration that the Skyhawks lost only one Ohio Valley Conference match — by one point, at that — and reached their second straight league championship match, it’s safe to say 2012 was one of head coach Dennis Taylor’s best seasons at the helm.
“This team has set the academic and athletic standards that haven’t been set since I’ve been here,” said Taylor, who just completed his 25th season at UT Martin. “No other team has topped that. I’ve always joked that before I retire, I want to have a team that all has perfect 4.0 GPA’s and wins the conference championship and this group came pretty close.”
Individually, Tiley was named the OVC Player of the Year, becoming the first and only player in league history to earn that award along with a Freshman of the Year accolade. Tiley was also named UT Martin’s Betttye Giles Co-Female Athlete of the Year, while Simic picked up OVC second team honors for her strong effort on the court.
Overall, the Skyhawks won over 75 percent of their matches in OVC play, going 40-14 in singles play (.741) and 21-6 in doubles competition (.778). UT Martin established a dominance in doubles play. Published in The WCP 5.17.12