June 10, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Cosmina Ciobanu has been named to the 2010 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America second team for the Women’s At-Large program. She becomes the third tennis player in program history and sixth Irish student-athlete in 2009-10 to receive Academic All-America accolades.
In all, Notre Dame has now seen 216 student-athletes named as Academic All-Americans. Ciobanu joins Tim Abromaitis (men’s basketball), Mike Anello (football), Lauren Fowlkes (women’s soccer), Christine Lux (softball) and Michael Thomas (men’s soccer) as honorees this year. She, along with Wendy Crabtree (1996 third team at-large) and Jennifer Hall (1999 third team at-large) as the only three women’s tennis players to earn Academic All-America accolades.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.000, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
The at-large program includes women’s bowling, women’s rowing, men’s and women’s fencing, women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s rifle, men’s and women’s skiing, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo and men’s wrestling. Three teams are announced for both the men’s and women’s and honors approximately 45 student-athletes for each of the two programs.
Nominations for the at-large teams are limited to three student-athletes per school per gender. Thus, each institution may nominate a total of three men’s at-large candidates and three women’s at-large candidates. There is no limit to the number of candidates that may be nominated for a particular sport. Voting is done by the College Sports Information Directors of America with 10 players chosen to the first and second teams in each district with the 10 first team selections moving to the national ballot.
“This is a very well-deserved honor for Cosmina as she has put so much hard work into both her tennis and academic careers here at Notre Dame,” Irish head coach Jay Louderback said. “I’ve always been amazed by how she has been able to excel at such a high level in the classroom and on the court. We’re excited for her as she continues her academic career in medical school next year.”
Ciobanu, a native of Brea, Calif., enjoyed a stellar career at Notre Dame both on and off the tennis court. She earned all-BIG EAST honors in both `09 and `10 and was named to the conference all-tournament team for both singles and doubles in `08, helping the Irish win BIG EAST Conference championships each of the past three seasons. A four-time NCAA team participant, Ciobanu led the Irish to an NCAA quarterfinal appearance in `07 and NCAA semifinal performances in `09 and `10, marking the highest finishes in program history.
A two-time recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete award, Ciobanu finished her career with a singles record of 112-31 and a 112-30 mark in doubles action. A mainstay in the Irish lineup for four seasons, Ciobanu has career-high Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings of 31st (singles) and 39th (doubles) and set Notre Dame’s single-season dual-match winning percentage record with a 26-1 singles mark in 2007, a feat that earned her the Monogram Club MVP Award. Ciobanu earned co-MVP honors again this season after compiling a 24-3 singles mark and a 19-5 record in doubles action.
An eight-time selection to the Dean’s List at Notre Dame, Ciobanu graduated in May with a double major in science pre-professional studies and anthropology while recording a 3.87 grade-point average. She was a member of Notre Dame’s Academic Honors Program and was named an ITA Scholar Athlete and BIG EAST Academic All-Star. Thanks to her outstanding performance both on the court and in the classroom, Ciobanu was Notre Dame’s nominee for the BIG EAST Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year and earned the Monogram Club’s postgraduate scholarship.
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