NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State's women's tennis team had three players named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team.
The requirements of nomination are: Athletes must have participated in at least 75% of the regular-season matches or be projected to play in the MVC Championship, they must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA on a 4.00 scale and finally, they must have reached sophomore status in both athletic and academic standing at their institution.
Illinois State's Valerija Gercar, Veronika Golanova and Jana Kustkova were all named first team scholar athletes.
Senior Gercar was also a 2017 first team scholar athlete and earned ITA scholar athlete recognition. She is from Lukovica, Slovenia and currently has a 3.81 GPA where she majors in International Business. She owns a 6-2 singles record at the No. 5 spot and is 4-4 in doubles play with partner Estelle Vanthier, primarily at the No. 3 spot.
Redshirt Junior, Golanova was recently selected as the Darlene A. Kluka Scholarship recipient, an honor given to a female athlete that demonstrates strong academic achievement and intends to enter the field of coaching. She has been named ITA Scholar-Athlete and MVC All-Select Team. Golanova owns a 13-8 singles record at the No. 1 slot where she has been selected three times as the MVC Singles Player of the week and sits 9-2 at No.1 doubles with partner Jelena Karla Vujicic. The duo was also the 2017 MVC Individual doubles champions this fall. This was her third MVC Individuals doubles championship and each time competed with a different partner. Golanova was paired with Kustkova mid-season and held a record of 6-3. The duo received doubles team of the week honors twice this season. She is currently undefeated in conference with a 5-0 record at No. 1 singles and was a 2017 MVC Individual Championships finalist in the No. 1 singles spot as well. Golanova is from Roznov Pod Radhostem, Czech Republic and holds a 3.72 GPA while majoring in Exercise Science.
Junior Kustkova is from Usti Nad Labem, Czech Republic and holds a 3.83 GPA while majoring in Organizational Leadership. She is an ITA Scholar Athlete selection and owns a 8-11 singles record this dual season, primarily playing at the No. 3 spot. With partner Ivon Mihaleva the duo sits 5-3 in doubles play at No. 2 spot. With partner Golanova the tandem owns a 6-3 record in the No. 1 doubles spot and was selected as doubles team of the week two times.
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