Martinez Takes In Second Straight Academic All-American Honors
6/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
June 12, 2008
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Nearly two months after wrapping up one of the most accomplished career's in the USC Upstate women's tennis program's history, senior Diana Martinez (Medellin, Colombia/Nuestra Senora del Rosario) added one more award to her impressive resume on Tuesday afternoon, as she became the first athlete at Upstate to ever earn two CoSIDA/ESPN:The Magazine Academic All-American honors in a career. Martinez was a First Team selection in the University Division At-Large category, which groups multiple sports, including golf, tennis, lacrosse, rifle, swimming & diving, ice hockey and field hockey at all Division I schools.
"I can't describe how happy I'm of being honored with the All-American award again and being the first one in school history to get this honor twice," Martinez said. "I got it last year when we were in Division II and it was so exciting, but without taking credit away from last year's award, I would say that this year's award makes me feel very proud of myself and my school because I was competing against nominees from some of the most renowned schools in the world in Duke and Georgia Tech."
Martinez, who helped lead USC Upstate to the Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship in its first year of Division I play, is the first athlete in school history to earn First Team Academic All-American honors and is the only representative from the Atlantic Sun Conference on the at-large team. She is one of just four athletes in school history to earn Academic All-American honors from CoSIDA, as she joined men's soccer players Darren Ambrose (1993, Second Team), Marlon Burgess (1994, Third Team) and Sean Hartley (1996, Third Team) with her first Academic All-American selection in 2007 as a second team selection in the college division.
"This a great honor and one that Diana very much deserves," Upstate head coach Alessandro De Marzo said. "As an athlete and a student, Diana was driven to be the best she could be and she succeeded in everything she did here at USC Upstate. She helped to elevate the women's tennis program to new heights and was every bit as focused and driven in her academic work. Diana's mark on USC Upstate athletics will be felt for a long time to come."
Martinez, who finished her academic career with a flawless 4.0 GPA as an economics major, finished her athletic career as the school's all-time leader in singles wins (73), doubles wins (64) and combined wins (137). She finished this season at 20-6 in singles play, marking her second straight year with 20 wins, helping her become one of just three players in school history to win 20 matches in two straight years. She was the first tennis player in school history to earn Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week honors on Feb. 8, and helped Upstate to three NCAA Division II Regionals, one trip to the NCAA Division II National Tournament and the school's first Atlantic Sun Conference regular season conference championship in 2008.
In April, Martinez was rewarded for her impeccable academic record as the University of South Carolina Upstate Business and Economics School awarded her with the Marion McMillan Academic Excellence Award. The award goes to the business school's top student.
"I feel blessed to be part of a team and a generation that has helped to raise not only the tennis team's but also the academic level at Upstate and helped make it more recognized throughout the country," Martinez said. "I will always be proud of saying that I am part of USC Upstate. I would like to use this opportunity to thank [head coach] Alessandro [De Marzo], [assistant coach] Tami [Matheny] and my teammates for the impact they had in my life and also the athletic department for all their support.
Martinez is one of four Academic All-Americans from the Atlantic Sun Conference this year, joining Jacksonville men's soccer's Anton Axelsson and Belmont men's basketball's Justin Hare as First Team selections. Jacksonville women's soccer's Keri Zwikker was a Second Team selection.
Martinez is one of just 32 student-athletes in the state of South Carolina who have earned two University Division Academic All-American honors in their athletic careers. She joins South Carolina's Ashley Smith (softball, 2004, 2005, 2006) and Jenny Lake (track & field, 2004, 2005), Winthrop's Jennifer Pritchard (volleyball, 2001, 2002), Clemson's Denise Murphy (volleyball, 1985, 1986), Christine Sherman (volleyball, 1986, 1987) and Gisele Oliveira (track & field, 2004, 2005), Coastal Carolina's Marie Matrka (tennis, 2004, 2005) and Furman's Emilie McDonald (softball, 1988, 1990) and Julie Glasser (softball, 1996, 1997) as the only female student-athletes from Division I institutions in South Carolina to repeat as Academic All-American.
Upstate finished the year 17-3 overall and a perfect 11-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference to win the school's first Atlantic Sun Conference title. The Spartans, in their first year of Division I competition, were not eligible for postseason competition as a provisional member of DI. Their first year of eligibility for postseason play is 2011-12.
2008 CoSIDA/ESPN: The Magazine University Division At-Large Academic All-American Team Academic All-American of the Year: Kristi Miller, Georgia Tech FIRST TEAM Kristi Miller, GEORGIA TECH Amanda Blumenherst, DUKE Hilary Bowen, NORTHWESTERN Molly Crispell, PENN STATE Stacy Lewis, ARKANSAS Kelly Zahalka, U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY Rachel Dawson, NORTH CAROLINA Imke Reimers, NEBRASKA Azahara Munoz, ARIZONA STATE Kate Burdick, MICHIGAN STATE Kara Denby, AUBURN Vanessa Andrews, TULSA Diana Martinez, USC UPSTATE Gretchen Kittelberger, MARYLAND Christine Magnuson, TENNESSEE
