NATCHITOCHES—Regardless of if it is on the court or off, the Northwestern State tennis team excels.

On the court, the Lady Demons earned a share of the Southland Conference regular season championship, and now off it, the team was named one of the ITA All-Academic teams and seven athletes earned an ITA Scholar Athlete award.

To be named an All-Academic Team, the school must have a team grade point average of 3.2 or above, while athletes must have a grade point average of at least 3.5 for the current academic year to earn a Scholar Athlete award.

NSU's seven athletes honored are Ayu Ishibashi, Zoi Spyrou, Sofia Garcia, Maria Farina, Honoka Umeda, Pika Doberlet and Valeria Ortega.

Overall, 1,462 Division I women's student-athletes were named an ITA Scholar-Athlete, while 222 women's tennis programs were awarded the All-Academic Team distinction.

The team dominated in the classroom, sporting a 3.717 GPA to earn an ITA All-Academic Team.

A pair of Lady Demons, Ayu Ishibashi and Maria Farina both recorded perfect 4.0 GPA. Ishibashi earned Second Team All-SLC honors to round out her collegiate career.

A native of Chiba, Japan, Ishibashi boasted her perfect GPA in her final season, majoring in health and exercise science.

As a sophomore, Farina also had a perfect 4.0 GPA in addition to being a consistent force on the court.

The Argentinian sporting a record of 4-3 in singles and 3-1 in doubles during league play.

Ortega, a fellow native of Argentina, wasted little time making her mark in the classroom as part of NSU, posting a 3.917 GPA in her freshman season in Natchitoches.

Umeda sported a 3.093 GPA while majoring in psychology after a solid season on the court in the top half of the singles rotation. The sophomore from Japan has 19 singles victories in her first two years in Natchitoches and helped lead the Lady Demons to their second conference championship in four seasons.

Doberlet and Garcia each posted grade point averages of better than a 3.80. Doberlet earns her a ITA Scholar Athlete spot after recording a 3.813 GPA. Doberlet adds to a strong off-season after helping claim the Slovenian national championship in doubles.

Garcia had a sensational season on the court, going 10-1 and 8-1 during SLC play, dominating in the back part of the rotation for the Lady Demons. Off the court, she had a 3.80 GPA, majoring in business administration.

A newcomer, Spyrou also made the team, majoring in psychology. She excelled in doubled, going 8-4 overall and 4-1 during SLC play.