Women’s Tennis named ITA All-Academic Team; Cummins and Kelly receive Scholar-Athlete accolades

By Blake Moore

| ITA All-Academic Teams and Scholar-Athletes |

ADA – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced Tuesday, July 24 that the Ohio Northern women's tennis program has been named an ITA All-Academic Team for the 2017-18 season.

Northern was listed among 735 teams honored across all levels of college tennis for the past season. In order to receive the award, teams must be an ITA program who achieve a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.00 grading scale.

The national association has now recognized the Polar Bears with the award 14 times in the last 16 seasons. The mention also marks the team's first honor since the 2015-16 campaign.

In addition, senior Lynn Kelly (Mason) and sophomore Kaleigh Cummins (Springfield/Northeastern) both received ITA Scholar-Athlete kudos. 

Kelly, a nursing major at ONU, received her third successive award from the organization. She adds the honor to her All-OAC First-Team and Academic All-OAC recognitions this past year. 

The senior would end her tennis career at Northern posting a 21-5 overall record and a perfect 7-0 conference mark in singles action in 2017-18. She would also contribute an 18-9 overall record in doubles action, which pushed the four-time all-conference nominee over 100 career wins. 

Cummins, an accounting major, earned her first ITA award this year. 

On the court, she would finish the season with a 24-24 combined overall record in singles and doubles play, which was highlighted by a 5-2 mark in doubles action in the conference loop.

Ohio Northern ended its eighth consecutive winning season 19-7 overall and 7-1 in conference play under 17th-year head coach Scott Wills.