TEMPE, Ariz. - The Simmons College Women's Tennis team received the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team award, while six Sharks were honored as Scholar-Athletes, it was announced by the ITA.

The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any member program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale).  

In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must meet the following criteria: 1.) be a varsity letter winner, 2.) have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and 3.) have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including freshman thorough senior year).

Simmons Tennis compiled a 3.67 cumulative GPA as a team for 2015-16, including two student-athletes with a perfect 4.0. The Sharks have earned the All-Academic Team award in seven of the last nine years, including four straight seasons. 

Senior Rachael Downey (Groveland, Mass.) is selected for the third straight year, while classmates Meg Cokely (Haverhill, Mass.) and Katie Crowley (Reading, Mass.) as well as junior Theresa Reinhard (Canton, Ohio) were all named as Scholar-Athletes for the third time. Sophomore Mary Matthews (Wakefield, R.I.) earned Scholar-Athlete status for the second year in a row, while first year Ashley Chen (Hilo, Hawaii) received the designation following her rookie campaign with Simmons.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body of college tennis, overseeing men's and women's varsity tennis at NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College. The ITA administers a comprehensive awards and rankings program for men's and women's varsity players, coaches and teams in all divisions, providing recognition for their accomplishments on and off the court. For more information on the ITA, visit the ITA website at www.itatennis.com, like the ITA on Facebook or follow @ITA_Tennis on Twitter.

The Sharks finished their season with a 10-9 record to reach double-digit victories for the 13th year in a row and also won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship for the eighth straight year, following a perfect 6-0 conference mark. Head Coach Bob Rauseo was named GNAC Coach of the Year for the eighth straight year and five Simmons players earned All-Conference accolades.