Photo by: Brian Blalock
Yamalapalli earns SLC academic honors
5/11/2021 12:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
FRISCO — Sam Houston junior Sahaja Yamalapalli has been named the 2021 Southland Conference tennis Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Tuesday.
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Yamalapalli, who earned Player of the Year honors last month, was also named to the all-academic first team.
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She put together one of the most impressive seasons in school history in leading Sam Houston to its first Southland Conference championship.
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A first-team All-SLC selection, Yamalapalli went 11-0 at No. 1 singles in league play which was the best singles record at any position, and she did not lose a set all season. She finished with an 18-0 overall record which is matched her school record for the most dual match wins in a season.
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Yamalapalli, who was also the 2019 tennis Student-Athlete of the Year and Player of the Year, went 8-4 at No. 1 doubles.
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To be considered for Student-Athlete of the Year, a player must have earned at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years of athletics competition, including the current season, at the nominating institution.
2021 Southland Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year: Sahaja Yamalapalli, Sam Houston
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2021 Southland Women's Tennis All-Academic First Team
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2021 Southland Women's Tennis All-Academic Second Team
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^Student-Athlete of the Year
*-Automatic selection
2-Two-Time All-Academic Selection
3-Three-Time All-Academic Selection
4-Four-Time All-Academic Selection
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Yamalapalli, who earned Player of the Year honors last month, was also named to the all-academic first team.
Â
She put together one of the most impressive seasons in school history in leading Sam Houston to its first Southland Conference championship.
Â
A first-team All-SLC selection, Yamalapalli went 11-0 at No. 1 singles in league play which was the best singles record at any position, and she did not lose a set all season. She finished with an 18-0 overall record which is matched her school record for the most dual match wins in a season.
Â
Yamalapalli, who was also the 2019 tennis Student-Athlete of the Year and Player of the Year, went 8-4 at No. 1 doubles.
Â
To be considered for Student-Athlete of the Year, a player must have earned at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years of athletics competition, including the current season, at the nominating institution.
2021 Southland Women's Tennis Student-Athlete of the Year: Sahaja Yamalapalli, Sam Houston
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2021 Southland Women's Tennis All-Academic First Team
| Name | Class | School | Hometown | Major | GPA |
| Sahaja Yamalapalli^*3 | Sr. | Sam Houston | Hyderabad, India | Food Science/Nutrition | 3.81 |
| Emilija Dancetovic*2 | Sr. | Northwestern State | Belgrade, Serbia | Business Administration | 3.80 |
| Victoire Delattre* | Fr. | A&M-Corpus Christi | Valenciennes, France | Chemistry | 3.38 |
| Allison Stewart | Sr. | Abilene Christian | Midland, Texas | Communication Disorders | 4.00 |
| Yada Vasupongchai* | Sr. | Central Arkansas | Samutprakan, Thailand | Health Education | 3.46 |
| Ank Vullings | Sr. | New Orleans | Roermond, Netherlands | Accounting | 3.75 |
2021 Southland Women's Tennis All-Academic Second Team
| Name | Class | School | Hometown | Major | GPA |
| Judit Castillo Gargallo4 | Sr. | Northwestern State | Teruel, Spain | Sports Management | 4.00 |
| Putri Insani | Jr. | Southeastern La. | Jakarta, Indonesia | Accounting | 3.84 |
| Jaeun Lee | So. | Central Arkansas | Seoul, South Korea | Health Education | 4.00 |
| Nini Memishishi2 | Sr. | Abilene Christian | Tbilisi, Georgia | Accounting | 4.00 |
| Fuka Nonoyama2 | Jr. | Central Arkansas | Myoshi, Japan | Health Education | 3.80 |
| Mariya Shumeika2 | Jr. | A&M-Corpus Christi | Minsk, Belarus | Kinesiology | 4.00 |
^Student-Athlete of the Year
*-Automatic selection
2-Two-Time All-Academic Selection
3-Three-Time All-Academic Selection
4-Four-Time All-Academic Selection
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Players Mentioned
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