AUSTIN, Texas --- Three Tusculum student-athletes have been named to the 2018 Google Cloud NCAA Division II Academic All-District 3 Women's At-Large first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Franziska Funke earns her third Academic All-District accolade, while Katarina Majorova and Annie McCullough garner their inaugural Academic All-District recognition. All three advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® national ballot with the winners being announced in June.
The Google Cloud Academic All-America® At-Large program includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, water polo for both men and women; bowling, crew, beach volleyball and field hockey for women; and volleyball and wrestling for men.
Funke graduated from Tusculum earlier this month with a degree in management and economics. She finished with an impressive 3.99 cumulative grade point average while earning recognition to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, President's List, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List and is a member of the Alpha Chi Academic Honor Society.
Funke was honored earlier with the SAC Women's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year Award, becoming the third Pioneer in the last four years to be honored and seventh in program history. She is the first three-time Academic All-District honoree in program history and will be vying for her third Academic All-America® recognition after garnering second team honors in each of the last two years.
The Bochum, Germany native was named All-SAC first team in singles for a third time in her career after compiling a 15-4 record this season. She finishes as Tusculum's career leader in singles victories with 69 (69-15). Funke played primarily at number-two singles for the Pioneers, where she went 12-4 overall, and had an 8-2 record in SAC singles matches during the 2018 season. For her efforts she was named the recipient of the Southeast Region Most Improved Senior Award which is selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Funke was nationally-ranked in singles for most of the 2018 season, reaching as high as 31st in the Oracle/ITA Division II national singles rankings. Funke won 12 of her 15 singles matches in straight sets, and had a perfect 3-0 record in matches that went to three sets or a tiebreaker. She won the A draw singles title at the Grizzly Open at Georgia Gwinnett in the fall by winning four matches.
Funke won at least 14 singles matches in each of her four seasons for the Pioneers, including a stellar 22-1 record as a sophomore. She compiled a 45-9 career singles record at the number-two position in the lineup, and also earned seven wins in 10 career contests at the top of the singles lineup.
In doubles, Funke teamed with Majorova for an 18-3 record this season, including a 15-2 mark at the No. 2 position in the Tusculum lineup. Funke and Majorova had a 9-1 record in conference doubles matches and were named first-team All-SAC for the second straight year as a duo.
A three-time All-SAC first team doubles selection in her career, Funke finished with a career record of 74-18 in doubles for the Pioneers, including an 18-1 mark as a freshman and 21 victories as a junior. She had a 28-3 record at No. 2 doubles for the Pioneers, and a 42-13 mark at top-flight doubles.
McCullough, a sophomore from Belfast, Northern Ireland, has a 3.97 GPA while majoring in chemistry. She is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Dean's List, President's List, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List and the Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
She earned All-Conference honors in both singles and doubles and finished with a 16-0 record in singles including undefeated in league play (10-0). She went 18-5 in doubles with her twin sister Caitlin, including 8-2 in in league play as the duo finished 32nd in NCAA II. The McCulloughs were 15-4 at No. 1 doubles and had a 3-1 record at No. 2 doubles with four of their five losses coming against doubles teams also ranked in the final ITA top-50. The two-time All-SAC selection has a 36-4 career singles record 39-15 in doubles play.
Majorova, a sophomore from Martin, Slovakia, boasts a 3.97 GPA with a double major in management and accounting. She is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Athletic Director's Honor Roll, President's List, Dean's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List.
She is a two-time All-SAC first team selection in both singles and doubles and as played at the top-flight in singles during her two seasons with the Pioneers. This past year, she went 16-3 at No. 1 singles, including 7-2 in SAC competition. She opened the campaign with wins in her first 12 singles matches and went 4-1 in her final five.
Majorova, the 2017 SAC Freshman of the Year, owns a 31-10 career singles record, which includes 15-4 conference worksheet. The duo of Majorova and Funke also posted a 39-10 overall record in doubles including 19-2 in SAC matches over the past two years.
Tusculum finished with an overall record of 21-3 and in second place in the South Atlantic Conference with a 9-1 league record. The Pioneers advanced to the SAC semifinal round and were selected to participate in the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship for the second straight year and 10th time in program history. Tusculum defeated Queens 5-2 in the opening round of the NCAA Southeast Regional before being eliminated by national semifinalist Columbus State in the second round.
