NEW YORK—Academic awards for the 2018-19 academic year continue to be revealed by the BIG EAST Conference, which on Wednesday afternoon announced the 22 winners of Team Academic Excellence Awards for having the highest collective grade-point average in each conference sport.  Villanova was one of four schools to earn multiple awards, with the women's swimming & diving and men's tennis squads each having the highest GPA among their conference peers.  The women's swimming & diving team tallied a 3.563 GPA in 2018-19 and the men's tennis team had a 3.521 GPA. 
 
The winners of the Team Academic Excellence Awards are chosen based on the 2018-19 grade-point average of each student-athlete who appeared on an institution's roster as of the last contest of the championship segment in each conference-sponsored sport.  Villanova teams have combined to win 15 Team Academic Excellence awards over the past nine years. 
 
The women's swimming & diving team has excelled both in the pool and in the classroom over the last several years.  Head coach Rick Simpson led his Wildcats to a sixth consecutive BIG EAST title in 2019 and the team earned three major awards at the BIG EAST Championships.  Freshman Kelly Montesi and junior Bridie Dunn were selected as the Most Outstanding Swimmer and Most Outstanding Diver, respectively, while Simpson and his staff earned the Women's Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year award for the sixth straight year. 
 
Villanova has been equally recognized for its academic achievement, as the program was named a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team for the spring 2019 semester.  Montesi, Dunn and senior Elise Pidutti were each chosen as honorable mention Scholar All-Americans.  Senior Taylor Wilson was named a semifinalist for a Fulbright Scholarship, while 2018 graduate Mary Spillane was one of four Wildcats student-athletes to be a recipient of the prestigious honor in 2018-19. 
 
The men's tennis team won 12 dual matches in 2018-19 and had junior Tyler Roth named a second team All-BIG EAST selection.  Roth was 12-10 in singles play and 14-5 in doubles action in 2018-19, including going 3-3 against BIG EAST foes in singles.  Following the season, Roth was one of eight members of the team who were ITA Scholar-Athletes.  Also earning this distinction were Michael Czlonka, Dylan Flanagan, Matthew Jones, Tommy Mulflur, Danny Nomura, Charlie Schuls and Stefan Suare.  Villanova was also selected as an ITA All-Academic Team by having a cumulative team GPA of 3.20 or above.
 
Last week, senior thrower Jack Judge from the men's track & field team was named the men's outdoor track & field winner of a Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award.  The conference will also announce its 2018-19 All-Academic Team next week.