DeKALB, Ill. – A league-leading and school record six Northern Illinois University women's tennis student-athletes were named to the 2024 Academic All-MAC Team announced by the Mid-American Conference with three Huskies also receiving Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Tuesday.
 
Juniors Reagan Welch (Greenbrier, Tenn./Aaron Academy) and Erika Dimitriev (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/North Toronto Collegiate) and sophomore Isabella Righi (Palma de Mallorca, Spain/IES Centre de Tecnificacio Esportiva IB) all qualified for both the Academic All-MAC and CSC Academic All-District squads.
 
The trio were joined by seniors Anastasia Rakita (Moscow, Russia/Moscow Secondary School 1252) and Diana Lukyanova (Moscow, Russia/Moscow Secondary School 199) and sophomore Jenna Horne (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) on the Academic All-MAC Team.
 
"We are really proud of the effort our student-athletes continue to show in the classroom," said NIU head coach Eric Burns. "Every year we throw tough fall and spring competition schedules at this team, and every year they manage it academically with flying colors. They continue to raise the bar for our program on and off the court. It is a testament to our ladies' dedication and our great support here at NIU. It is clear that our ladies have their priorities straight and are here as students first. We couldn't be happier with their efforts."
 
Welch, a psychology major, led the Huskies with a perfect 4.0 GPA, followed closely by Dimitriev's 3.95 mark in operations and information management. Both were named to the Academic All-MAC Team and collected CSC Academic All-District honors for the second time. Rakita compiled a 3.83 GPA in leadership and management and is also a two-time Academic All-MAC qualifier. Lukyanova, a 3.43 student in business administration who was named Academic All-MAC for the third time, and Rakita were two of four women's tennis players to earn their undergraduate degrees from NIU last weekend, joined by Josefina Trella (Eden Prairie, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's HS) and Angelica Ross (Painesville, Ohio/Painesville Riverside HS).
 
Sophomores Righi and Horne each received the academic honors for the first time with Righi earning both Academic All-MAC and CSC Academic All-District recognition with a 3.77 GPA in biomedical engineering while Horne carries a 3.30 GPA in finance.
 
NIU and Western Michigan each had six players qualify for the Academic All-MAC team to lead all league schools. The Huskies' six qualifiers were the most in school history, surpassing the previous high of four. In all, 32 student-athletes were honored by the MAC.  To see the complete list, go to MAC-sports.com.   
 
CSC Academic All-District honorees achieve a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or higher and must have competed in 70 percent of team matches. Freshmen are not eligible for the award.  This year marks the second year CSC (previously CoSIDA) has announced a tennis specific team. In the past, tennis student-athletes were included in the "at-large" sports group.
 
To qualify for the Academic All-MAC team, student-athletes must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.20 and compete in 50 percent of matches.  First-year players, including transfers in their first season and true freshmen, are not eligible for the team.
 
NIU Women's Tennis 2024 Academic All-MAC/CSC (**) All-District Student-Athletes
Reagan Welch, Junior, Psychology, 4.0 **
Erika Dimitriev, Junior, Operations and Information Management, 3.95 **
Anastasia Rakita, Senior, Leadership and Management, 3.83
Isabella Righi, Sophomore, Biomedical Engineering, 3.77 **
Diana Lukyanova, Senior, Business Administration, 3.43
Jenna Horne, Sophomore, Finance, 3.30
 
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