Both the men's and women's squads from Luther College were selected as 2009 ITA All-Academic Teams, along with women's squads from Coe College and Wartburg College. The ITA All-Academic Team award is open to any ITA program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale). All eligible student-athletes whose names appear on the NCAA Division III eligibility form and have competed in one or more varsity matches must average into the GPA for the current academic year (including fall 2008 and spring 2009).
Luther College had 12 of the 26 Iowa Conference individuals recoginzed as ITA Scholar Athletes - six men and six women. Earning honors for the Norse men were 2007 Iowa Conference MVP Max Busch, 2009 Iowa Conference MVP Scott Sundstrom, Tyler Van Heest, Nate Jung, Zach Kulzer, and Mark Mateski. Kelsie Allen, Carrie Eisele, Fran Fairfield, Katie Nichols, Kate Patterson, and Brynne Zinnecker were selected from the Norse women's squad.
The Coe women's team also had six players selected - Hillary Allen, Natalie Bordignon, Katy Delagardelle, Megan Fiala, Susan Gilmer, and Hannah Jensen, while four Simpson women's tennis players - Jill Berner, Alissa Nance, Jessica Nims, and Jackie Suckow - received honors. Wartburg's Andrew Kahler, Molly Eslick, Lindsay Greiner, and Leanna Jenkins round out list of Iowa Conference ITA Scholar Athletes.
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 thorough senior year).
