July 19, 2012

A funny thing happened on the Montana women's tennis team's journey toward an inevitable Big Sky Conference championship and top-75 national ranking. The Grizzlies remembered to pack their book bags.

Montana placed four student-athletes on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's 2012 Scholar-Athlete team, an elite squad made up of 2011-12 letterwinners who posted a 3.5 or better grade point average for the 2011 fall and 2012 spring semesters.

Representing the Grizzlies on the 2012 Scholar-Athlete team were Lauren Gibson, Heather Davidson, Maddy Murray and Laurence Pelchat. It was the second time in coach Steve Ascher's four years at UM that his team placed four on the Scholar-Athlete team.

Montana, which advanced to its first Big Sky Conference tournament championship match in April, was one of 79 NCAA Division I women's tennis programs with four of more representatives on the 2012 ITA list. The other eight Big Sky Conference schools combined to place a total of nine names on this year's team.

Gibson, who was a ITA Scholar-Athlete for the third time in her career, graduated in May with a 3.63 GPA as a political science major.

Davidson, who will be a senior in 2012-13, has a 3.65 cumulative GPA as a marketing major. Murray, a junior in the fall, has a 4.00 GPA as a computer science/mathematics major. Pelchat, who will be a sophomore, posted a 3.74 GPA in her first year as a business administration major.

Davidson and Pelchat were both first-team All-Big Sky Conference selections last spring, Murray was honorable mention. All three were also named Academic All-Big Sky Conference.