Senior tennis standout Tyler Davis was named to the Capital One District Five first team all-Academic At-Large squad.  His name now goes to the national ballot.

Reggie Bentley And Tyler Davis Selected To Capital One District Five First Team All-Academic Squad

May 19, 2011

Notre Dame, Ind. – Six Notre Dame student-athletes – three men and three women – have been selected to the 2011 Capital One Academic all-District Five At-Large team in voting done by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for the 2010-11 school year.

Two athletes – fencer Reggie Bentley (Jr., Little Rock, Ark.) and tennis’ Tyler Davis (Sr., Nashville, Tenn.) – were first team all-District choices and will move to the national ballot for Academic All-American honors that will be announced in June.

Four Irish athletes were selected to the District Five At-Large second team. That includes hockey standout Calle Ridderwall (Sr., Stockholm, Sweden) on the men’s side and rower Stephanie Gretsch (Sr., Downer’s Grove, Ill.), tennis’ Shannon Mathews (Jr., Birmingham, Mich.) and golf’s So-Hyun Park (Sr., Seoul, South Korea).

The at-large program includes women’s bowling, 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 swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo and men’s wrestling.

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Fencer Reggie Bentley joins Tyler Davis as a first team all-District selection on the Capital One At-Large All-Academic Squad.

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Nominations for the at-large teams are limited to three student-athletes per school per gender. Thus, each institution may nominate 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 team in each district with 10 first team selections in each district moving to the national ballot.

Bentley, a foilist for Notre Dame’s 2011 NCAA National Championship team, is pursuing a degree from the program of liberal studies in the College of Arts and Letters while holding a 3.78 cumulative grade-point average. Off the strip, Bentley has been named a member of the Dean’s List on four occasions, while working with the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) Field Day and Christmas Party and participating in the Walk for Diabetes function.

On the strip, he also helped the Irish to a runner-up NCAA finish in ’09 and a third-place result in ’10. A second-team All-America selection in ’11, he earned the distinction after a fifth-place individual finish at the NCAA Championships that saw him post a 16-7 record in round-robin play. Overall, Bentley carries a record of 87-20 in foil and is a two-time, second-team all-Midwest Fencing Conference selection (’09 and ’10).

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Calle Ridderwall caps his Notre Dame career by being selected as a second team Capital One District Five all-Academic selection.

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Davis, the first-ever two-time captain in the history of the Notre Dame men’s tennis program, will graduate this week from the University’s College of Science with a degree in science business and plans to attend medical school in the fall at Vanderbilt University.

He owns a 3.933 grade point average and has been a Dean’s List member in all seven of his semesters at Notre Dame. A three-time member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team, he was the 2010 recipient of the league’s Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence award and also was Notre Dame’s institutional male recipient of the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete award this past January. Davis also was named the winner of the BIG EAST’s inaugural American Eagle Outfitters Mike Tranghese Post-Graduate Leadership Award in April.

A four-year starter who has played in every match throughout his collegiate career and has been part of teams that have played in the NCAA tournament on three occasions, Davis helped lead the Irish to a 15-10 mark this season and a No. 30 ranking in the most recent Campbell/ITA poll. He currently owns a 17-4 overall record in singles play and is 20-13 in doubles matches during the 2010-11 campaign. Davis and his then doubles partner, Stephen Havens, were ranked as high as No. 28 this season.

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Senior rower Stephanie Gretsch was one of six Irish student-athletes to earn Capital One District Five all-Academic honors.

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While at Notre Dame, Davis has been the recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award and the Leader of Distinction Award that is presented to individuals who have been deemed exceptional leaders by their coaches and teammates. In addition, he also participated in the Rosenthal Leadership Academy.

Away from the tennis court, he serves as a research assistant within biology department at the University. Davis also has been a member of Notre Dame’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council for three years and is an officer within that group while serving as the BIG EAST SAAC representative. He also is a hospital and nursing home volunteer and participates in a weekly “Read to a Child” program. Davis served as the chief organizer for the men’s tennis team’s participation in the Fighting Irish for Life program in 2009 that paired a local high school student with cancer to the squad for a semester. He also is a volunteer for the Lifeworks Dream Team that helps to lead interactive workshops with South Bend elementary children about reaching their dreams.

Rounding out the men’s three selections was Ridderwall, a second team choice. A senior captain on the Notre Dame hockey team, the high scoring left wing, helped the Irish to a 25-14-5 overall record, a second-place finish in the CCHA regular season and their second appearance in the NCAA Frozen Four in the last four seasons this year. Fifth on the team in scoring with 16 goals and nine assists for 25 points, Ridderwall was the recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley’s Rockne Student-Athlete Award as the player with the top grade-point average on the team. A four-time monogram winner at Notre Dame, Ridderwall had a 3.413 grade-point average while majoring in Finance in the Mendoza College of Business.

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Junior Shannon Mathews, who will be competing in the NCAA singles and doubles championships next week was a second team District Five selection on the Capital One all-academic team.

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He also was Notre Dame’s choice for the CCHA Scholar-Athlete Team and received that honor at the conference’s Awards Show in Detroit in March. During his four years on the Notre Dame hockey team, the talented Swede played in 156 career games and had 57 goals and 34 assists for 91 points. Of his 57 goals, 27 came on the power play, a total that ties him for fifth all-time while his 156 games is ninth on the all-time list. Ridderwall also was one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award that honors student athletes who excel both on and off the ice and has notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

A member of two Frozen Four teams during his career (2008 and 2011), Ridderwall was the team’s most valuable player and the offensive player of the year in 2008-09 and was an honorable mention all-CCHA selection in 2009.

On the women’s side, Gretsch, is a three-time member of the Dean’s List, and will graduate from the College of Science with a degree in biological science as well as history while holding a 3.63 cumulative grade-point average. A two-time Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) National Scholar Athlete, Gretsch has mentored at Clay Middle School while participating in the University’s Appalachia service trip. The Downers Grove, Ill., native also has volunteered at Notre Dame’s Pediatric Christmas party and the Salvation Army Adopt-A-Family program.

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Senior golfer So-Hyun Park gets it done in the classroom and on the course. A second team all-District selection, she is currently competing in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships in Bryan, Texas.

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A senior captain for the Irish, Gretsch has helped lead her team to four BIG EAST Championship’s during her career, while personally rowing for three gold-medal boats. A two-time first team all-BIG EAST selection, Gretsch also was named a CRCA All-Central Region First Team member in ’10.

Mathews, a five-time Dean’s List selection, is pursuing a degree from the Mendoza College of Business in finance and computer applications and has a 3.59 grade-point average. A two-time BIG EAST Academic All Star, Mathews was a member of the Notre Dame Student Athlete Emerging Leaders Committee and was nominated for the Rosenthal Leadership Academy. She also has volunteered for the Special Olympics, while participating in the Diabetes Rearch Walk, Fight For Life and Circle K.

On the tennis courts, Mathews has put together a career record of 72-25 in three seasons with the Irish, including 22-7 this season. The Birmingham, Mich., native has helped the team claim three BIG EAST titles in her time with the program and reach the NCAA semifinals on back-to-back occasions in ’09 and ’10. An at-large selection to the 2011 NCAA Singles Championship, Mathews was named the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player this season after claiming the match-clinching point in each of Notre Dame’s three tournament wins en route to the league crown. Mathews, an ’09 NCAA National Team Indoor and Outdoor All-Tournament Team selection, also will participate in the ’11 NCAA Doubles Championship for the first time in her career.

Rounding out the women’s second team selections is Park, a four-time Dean’s List choice, who will graduate from the Mendoza College of Business with a degree in Accounting while carrying a 3.60 cumulative grade-point average. Over her time at Notre Dame, she has been selected to the National Golf Coach Association All-Scholar Team as well as the BIG EAST All-Academic Team.

She entered this week’s NCAA Championships with a career stroke average of 75.03 that ranks as the best career average with a minimum of 35 rounds played in Irish program history. She also has claimed medalist honors at two tournaments in her career, helping her team to two BIG EAST titles (’08 & ’11) and four NCAA Regional team appearances, culminating in reaching the program’s first-ever NCAA Championship in ’11. A three-time all-BIG EAST selection, Park was named the Notre Dame Monogram Club MVP in ’08.