DUDLEY, Mass. (Aug. 19) – The Nichols College women's tennis team has been recognized by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as an All-Academic Team for the second time in three years and  seven individuals have earned ITA Scholar-Athlete status, it was announced recently. Nichols led the The Commonwealth Coast Conference with seven ITA Scholar Athletes.

Nichols achieved ITA All-Academic Team status with a cumulative team grade point average above 3.20 on a 4.00 scale. The 2009 TCCC Senior Scholar-Athlete Molly McGuire (E. Sandwich, Mass.) was joined as an ITA Scholar-Athlete by sophomore Chelsey Miller (Salem, Conn.) and first years Alexandra Cifone (Bristol, Conn.), Erin Desmarais (Gardner, Mass.), Catherine Jaworski (Berlin, Vt.), Erica Tolman (West Rockport, Maine) and Megan Woodruff (Morris, Conn.).

In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status, a player must be a varsity letter winner, gave a grade point average of at least a 3.50 on a 4.00 scale for the current academic year and have been enrolled at her present school for at least two semesters.

Nichols set the program standard for wins for the second season in a row in 2009 and advanced to host the TCCC semifinals for the first time in program history. With a 15-2 overall fall record and a 10-1 TCCC mark, Nichols also claimed a portion of the regular-season title for the first time in school history. The Bison open their 2010 campaign on Wednesday, Sept. 1 in a 4 p.m. match at Rhode Island College.