FRISCO – Sophomore
Josh Sheehy and juniors
Lucile Pothier and
Whitney Williams Thursday were named First Team Southland Conference All-Academic in recognition of their efforts on the tennis court and in the classroom.
Sheehy and Williams both are first-time honorees, while Pothier has twice received this distinction. Wildcats who previously earned this citation include
Henry Adams,
Paul Michael Domanski, Guilherme Gesser, Micah and
Kaysie Hermsdorf,
Jason Proctor and Brittney Reed.
Ojai Valley Doubles Champions and First Team All-Southland Conference selections Pothier and Williams went 16-2 this spring, which included a 7-0 mark against league opposition. They won their 16 matches by an average score of 6-2 with their only two losses coming against teams from Indiana (8-7) and UTEP (7-5). They were unstoppable once conference play began in early March, and together they topped the No. 1 and 2 line teams from Central Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana, New Orleans, Northwestern State, Incarnate Word, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and Stephen F. Austin.
A native of Mouxy, France, Pothier finished the spring with 21 doubles victories, while Williams – from Anchorage, Alaska – led all Wildcats with 26 wins as she went 10-0 vs. league opponents playing alongside both
Erin Walker (3-0) and Pothier (7-0).
Pothier went 20-4 overall in singles and ended her season winning the Ojai Valley Singles Championship over Williams, 6-1, 6-2. She also went 10-1 vs. Southland opposition and is 21-1 vs. the league over the past two seasons. Her three-year record vs. the Southland is 28-5.
Williams was equally skilled in singles, leading the Wildcats with 22 victories. She won eight matches vs. the conference between the No. 2 and 3 positions and rode a seven-match winning streak into the Ojai finals where she fell to Pothier.
Sheehy finished his second season as a Wildcat with 20 singles victories after winning the Ojai title over his brother and Southland Conference Freshman of the Year,
Jonathan Sheehy. He also went 17-10 in doubles and helped the Wildcats win their first Southland Conference Championship behind a 4-1 record at the No. 1 position.
The All-Academic teams are voted on by a head coach, sports information director and academic/compliance staff member from each Southland Conference institution. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition to qualify for All-Academic selection. Nominees who were also named to the All-Conference First Team or CoSIDA Academic All-District team are automatically named Southland All-Academic.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member schools, votes for the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees must have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
Student-Athlete of the Year awards were presented to Lamar seniors Michael Feucht and Katya Lapayeva.
