By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's tennis team has received All-Academic Team status from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) for the 2020-21 season. Five Bearcat women's tennis players also qualified as ITA Scholar-Athletes. Willamette players who received the individual academic honor were Sarah Dean (Sr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS), Camille Gibney (Jr., La Crescenta, CA/Crescenta Valley HS), Sylvia Marr (Sr., Grants Pass, OR/Hidden Valley HS), Alyssa Siobhan Oberg (Roseville, CA/Oakmont HS), and Ruby Thompson (Fy., Bay City, OR/Tillamook HS). Dean and Marr qualified for the Scholar-Athlete Award for the fourth year in a row.
Hundreds of All-Academic Teams and thousands of ITA Scholar-Athletes were selected nationwide from women's tennis squads competing in NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, the NAIA, and junior colleges.
The All-Academic Team award was received with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or higher on a 4.0 scale during the academic year. All varsity letterwinners were included in each team's overall GPA. Willamette's team qualified for the award for the fourth consecutive season.
Scholar-Athlete status was achieved if a player was a varsity letterwinner with a grade point average of at least 3.50 (4.0 scale) during the 2020-21 academic year. Athletes had to attend their current college or university for a least two semesters.
ITA Scholar-Athlete Award
Sarah Dean (Sr.) recently graduated from Willlamette this spring. She majored in Politics, Policy, Law, and Ethics as well as Spanish. She minored in American Ethnic Studies. Dean earned the ITA Scholar-Athlete Award for the fourth consecutive season. In addition, she received Willamette's Senior Scholar-Athlete Award as the graduating women's athlete with the highest cumulative GPA. She was chosen for Northwest Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team honors in 2020-21.
During four seasons with the Bearcats, Dean competed in 51 singles matches and 49 doubles matches. She advanced to the consolation final in the singles bracket at the Ojai Tournament in 2018-19. She played in 12 singles matches and 11 doubles matches this year. She was named Second Team All-NWC in 2018-19. Dean is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and the Chi Alpha Sigma Student-Athlete honorary society. She is a semifinalist for the Fulbright Teaching Assistant Grant. As a student at Willamette she earned a Carson Undergraduate Research Grant in 2020.
Camille Gibney (Jr.) played in seven singles matches and three doubles matches in her first year on the team this spring. She played six of her seven singles matches at the #5 position to go along with one match at the #6 position. All three of her doubles matches were at #3 doubles.
At Willamette, Gibney is working toward a double major in Environmental Science and German. She has participated in Community Service Learning and has volunteered at the SOAR Center on campus. She was a Jump Start co-coordinator for two years.
Sylvia Marr (Sr.) received ITA Scholar-Athlete honors for the fourth consecutive year. She graduated from Willamette this spring with a major in Politics, Policy, Law and Ethics and a minor in Civic Communication and Media.
As a Bearcat over the past four seasons, she has seen action in 41 singles matches and 38 doubles matches. This spring, she was limited to three singles matches and three doubles matches due to an injury. All three singles matches were at the #3 position, while two of the three doubles matches were at the #1 position.
In 2017-18, Marr played singles in all 17 dual matches and competed in 16 doubles matches. As a sophomore in 2018-19, competed in singles and doubles during 13 of 14 dual matches. She played in singles and doubles in all eight matches in 2019-20.
Alyssa Siobhan Oberg (Grad.) saw action in 10 singles matches and 10 doubles matches in 2020-21. She played at #3 singles in nine of her matches. All 10 doubles matches were at the #2 position.
In her career as a Bearcat tennis player, she competed in 24 singles matches and 21 doubles matches. She was involved in singles and doubles during all eight matches during the shortened 2019-20 season (due to COVID-19).
Oberg is working on a master's degree in Data Science at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management. She earned a bachelor's degree from Willamette with a major in Biology in 2020.
Ruby Thompson (Fy.) played in five singles matches this season, while competing in six doubles matches. She competed at #5 singles twice and at #6 singles three times. All of her doubles matches were at #3 doubles.
Thompson is undecided regarding her major at Willamette. She was the salutatorian of her graduating class at Tillamook High School in Oregon. She was selected as a Biology Student of Merit at THS. She went on three mission trips to Cerro Azul, Mexico. She volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and was a member of the Science Club and Key Club.
Note: Academic year listed for each player is for the 2020-21 season.
