COMPLETE CSC ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Lesley University women's tennis team saw two student-athletes earn spots on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Team announced by the organization this afternoon. Jessica Legendre (Leesville, La.) and Tali-Anna Sutherland (Bridgeport, Conn.) both earned their first career CSC Academic All-District honors.
To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be at least sophomores both academically and athletically, hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 or higher, and appear in the lineup for at least 70 percent of their institution's competitions.
Legendre is working towards a degree in Animation and Motion while posting a 3.86 GPA. Legendre had a great year for the Lynx earning All-Conference in both singles and doubles this season. During the regular season, she posted a 11-1 record (5-0 NAC) at the number two spot in singles action. In all her wins this year, her closest score was a 7-5 win in the season opener at UMass Dartmouth. Seven of her 11 singles win this year came in a straight set as well including a stretch where she won four in a row in straight sets . In the postseason, Legendre continued her dominant run from the regular season and was victorious in both her matchups against Thomas (6-2, 6-1) and Husson (6-0, 6-1) before falling 6-2, 3-0 in her NCAA Tournament debut against No. 12 Johns Hopkins.
Sutherland was one of Lesley's main figures in doubles action after competing in 13 matchups in the No.3 spot while earning two wins on the year with the first coming against UMass Dartmouth (Sept. 3) and at VTSU Johnson (Sept. 28). The sophomore from Bridgeport, Conn. is currently majoring in Animation and Motion while posting a 3.66 GPA.
Legendre will advance to the CSC Academic All-America ballot, where first, second and third team Academic All-America honors will be announced in June. The CSC Academic All-America program recognizes tennis honorees in four divisions: NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and the NAIA.
About College Sports Communicators
College Sports Communicators (CSC) was founded in 1957 and is a 4,400+ member national association for strategic, creative and digital communicators across intercollegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. The current name of the organization was adopted following a membership-wide vote on August 31, 2022.
From its found in 1957 until the 2022 name change, the organization was known as College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
The name change signaled a major step in a larger strategic plan to highlight the association's evolution and expansion. The move better aligns with the association's membership makeup and further positions the organization to support and advocate for its members who serve in the communications, digital and creative college sports industry, regardless of position or title.
The organization, which celebrated its 65th year during the 2021-22 academic year, is the second oldest management association in all of intercollegiate athletics. College Sports Communicators became an affiliated partner with NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) in December of 2008.
CSC's membership first reached the 3,000 mark during the 2013-14 school year and has topped that threshold each year since with the exception of the 2020-21 Covid-19 pandemic year. The membership base reached 4,000 for the first time in 2022-23.
Prior to the formation of the organization as CoSIDA in the mid-1950s, sports information directors as a group were a part of the American College Public Relations Association. Most SIDs at those ACPRA meetings eventually felt that a separate organization was needed and that led to CoSIDA's formation. There were 102 members at the original meeting/convention in 1957.