Oct. 30, 2009

Memphis, Tenn. -

Two Lady Tiger soccer players were named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic Teams as announced by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday.

“We couldn’t be more proud of Kelsey & Vendula for this achievement” Assistant Coach Jodi Grant said. “They represent the mentality of our team to put academics at the highest priority while they are here at the University of Memphis. It is such a great example that they perform at the level they do both on and off the field. The characteristics they bring to the field, such as hard work and commitment, are definitely carrying over into all aspects of their life and that’s what we hope happens to each one of them by the time they leave the program.”

Junior midfielder Vendula Strnadova received first team honors and becomes the fourth Lady Tiger in program history to receive first team accolades. The Las Cruces, N.M. native, was named to the second team last season as a sophomore and becomes the third Lady Tiger to be named to any CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine team for two years of her career. Strnadova holds a 3.98 grade point average in Exercise and Sport Sciences curriculum.

Junior defender Kelsey Bakker was named to the second team and becomes the sixth Lady Tiger to be named to the second team. The Kennewick, Wash. native, has a 3.92 grade point average in Accounting and has played in all 19 matches for Memphis this season.

With Strnadova and Bakker being named to CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV teams, the University of Memphis women’s soccer program has had 12 athletes receive the academic honors. Since 2007, the Lady Tigers have had seven of the 12 athletes receive the honors as the program has claimed back-to-back C-USA Tournament Championships.

The Lady Tigers will return to action next week at the C-USA Tournament as they will seek to become the first C-USA team to three-peat as C-USA Tournament Champions.