Virginia Trio Earns ITA Scholar-Athlete Honors

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July 22, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ââ’¬” Three members of the Virginia women’s tennis team earned ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition from the ITA as Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), Erica Susi (Vero Beach, Fla.) and Taylor Wingo (Newport News, Va.) were all honored when the organization announced its annual award winners.

In order to earn ITA Scholar-Athlete status a player must meet the following criteria: 1.) be a varsity letter winner, 2.) have a grade point average of at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale) for the current academic year, and 3.) have been enrolled at their present school for at least 2 semesters (including freshman through senior year).

Elbaba earned All-America honors in singles for the fourth consecutive season after being seeded for the NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles Championships. Elbaba is the first player in program history to earn All-America honors in singles four times. She advanced to the Round of 16 of the women’s singles championships. Elbaba also earned All-ACC honors and was named the national winner of the ITA Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship. The senior also set the school record for singles wins in a career with 133.

As a freshman, Susi moved into the starting lineup as a regular in the middle of the season and helped the Cavaliers on the program’s second-ever run to the Elite Eight as Virginia defeated No. 3 seed North Carolina in the Round of 16. She paired with Elbaba in doubles through the latter half of the season as a part of that same team run.

Wingo helped the Cavaliers pick up a shutout victory in the opening-round of the NCAA Tournament, posting a 6-0, 6-0 victory in the squad’s shutout of Fairleigh Dickinson. The senior was also published in the Journal of Neuroimmune Psychology last fall at the start of her senior season.