AUSTIN, Texas --- Tusculum University's Annie McCullough and Caitlin McCullough have been named to the 2020 NCAA Division II Academic All-District Women's At-Large first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Annie earns Academic All-District honors for a third consecutive year, while Caitlin garners her inaugural Academic All-District accolade.  The McCullough sisters both advance to the Academic All-America® ballot with the winners being announced in June.  The Academic All-District 3 team is selected from nominees representing colleges and universities in the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and Peach Belt Conference.

The 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.

Annie McCullough has a 3.99 cumulative grade point average and earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry.  Last year, she was tabbed to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Women's At-Large second team becoming the third player in program history to earn Academic All-America® laurels. Earlier this month, she was named the South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year for a second straight season.

Caitlin McCullough posted a 3.95 GPA and graduated from TU with her bachelor's degree in accounting.

The Belfast, Northern Ireland natives are both members of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Dean's List, President's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List.  The duo have also garnered ITA Scholar Athlete three times and are both slated to make it a fourth consecutive year when the teams are announced later this summer.

Last month, the McCulloughs became the first student-athletes in TU women's tennis history to earn NCAA Division II All-America distinction by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).  The duo was one of 16 teams honored in doubles, while Annie was among 23 student-athletes recognized in singles play.

The McCulloughs finished as the Division II runner-up in doubles at the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia and ended the fall with a 10-3 overall record. They concluded the fall season ranked second in the Oracle/ITA Division II Women's Tennis National rankings, and had a 4-2 record against ranked opponents during the fall. The McCulloughs did not appear in any matches during the spring due to injuries, and have a 54-12 record in three seasons together at Tusculum thus far.

In singles, Annie McCullough went 10-3 during the fall to boost her career singles record (dual matches and tournaments) to 91-15. She was 3-3 against nationally-ranked opponents during the fall, including wins over All-Americans Kierstin Hensley of West Virginia State and Anna Savchenko of Azusa Pacific at the ITA Cup, with all three of her losses coming to All-American players. She was ranked seventh in Division II in singles at the conclusion of the fall portion of the season.

Caitlin McCullough was named the team's most valuable player during the 2019-20 campaign. She has a 65-25 collegiate singles record including 46-19 at Tusculum and 19-6 during her freshman season at Northeastern State University.  She is a three-time All-Conference selection, garnering All-Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association first team honors in 2017 and posted back-to-back All-SAC awards in 2018 and 2019. In the abbreviated 2019-20 season, she went 8-4 in singles with six of those wins coming in straight sets and advanced to the round of 16 at the ITA Southeast Regional.

Tusculum, which was ranked as high as 17th in the ITA Division II Women's National Team Rankings during the season, ended the abbreviated 2019-20 campaign with a 6-3 overall record and a 2-1 record in conference competition. The Pioneers were among 12 teams that received votes outside the Top 25 in the final ITA rankings of the season.

CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 Women's At-Large First Team