Emory University women’s tennis player Zahra Dawson was recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for her academic and athletic achievements during the 2010-11 season, as the junior was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Second Team.

Dawson helped lead the Eagles to a third-place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships, finishing the year with a singles record of 28-9, giving her the most singles victories by an Eagle during the year, and tying her for the third-most singles victories in a single season in Emory history.  In doubles play, she compiled a record of 31-5, giving her the second-most wins in school history, and the seventh-highest winning percentage (.861).  Dawson earned all-America honors after winning both the singles and doubles draws at the 2010 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Fall South Regional Championships, and has earned all-America honors all three years of her career.  She also earned a spot on the all-University Athletic Association (UAA) first team for her work as the Eagles’ fourth singles and second doubles player.

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.  Earlier in the year, she was named to the Capital One Academic all-District First Team.

Dawson, along with women’s swimmer Anne Culpepper (who was named to the at large first team on Thursday), becomes the 125^th Emory student-athlete to receive Academic All-America honors.  It marks the 12^th time a member of the Emory women’s tennis team has garnered the award, and the first time since Jolyn Taylor and Margaret Moscato were named Academic all-Americans in 2004.

Dawson is the sixth Emory athlete to earn all-America honors this year, joining Adam Waxman (men’s soccer first team), Emily Rubin (women’s soccer third team), Brittany Boeshore (softball third team), Paul Weinstein (men’s at large third team) and Culpepper. 

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a key member of the team, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by her sports information director.  Nominees for the Academic All-America team are selected from the pool of Academic All-District First Team selectees.

Women's sports that are grouped into the At Large category include bowling, crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis and water polo.  Emory nominees are part of the ‘College Division’ which includes NCAA Division II and III institutions, along with NAIA schools.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.