Emory University women’s tennis junior Zahra Dawson earned a spot on the Capital One Academic all-District At-Large First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), based on her athletic and academic success this season.

Dawson has been a key player for the third-ranked Eagles this season, earning all-America honors for her singles and doubles play in the fall after winning the ITA Regional Championships.  She has recorded a mark of 26-8 this season in singles play, improving 68-28 all time, and is currently the 12^th-ranked singles player in the region.  Dawson has also gone 29-4 in doubles action (74-24 over her career), and is ranked sixth in the region in doubles play.  She has earned three all-America honors for her singles play and two for doubles, including a runner-up finish in the 2010 NCAA Division III singles draw. 

Academically, Dawson has a 3.84 grade point average as an Applied Mathematics major.  She was recently presented with the ITA Atlantic South Region Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award, and is a two-time UAA academic honoree.

Tennis is one of 13 sports included in the At-Large category.  The others include the sports of bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimminh and diving, water polo, and wrestling.

By virtue of being named to the all-district first team, Dawson will be placed on the ballot for the Capital One Academic all-America teams.  The Academic all-America Women’s At-Large teams are scheduled to be announced on Thursday, June 9^th.

Voting for the Academic All-District team is conducted by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Emory nominees represent the "college division" in District 3 which is composed of NCAA Division II and III, and NAIA schools in the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.