VILLANOVA, Pa.—The academic excellence of Villanova student-athletes continued at a record pace during the Fall 2019 semester.  One of many highlights in new data from the fall semester released this week was an overall grade-point average of 3.306 for student-athletes.  This marks the 33^rd straight semester with a GPA above a 3.0 and the 10^th straight grading period above a 3.2. 
 
What may be most impressive is the across-the-board excellence of the 24 varsity sports and more than 600 student-athletes that make up the Wildcats athletics program.  One out of every three student-athletes attained a fall semester GPA of 3.5 or higher, while 78 percent had a 3.0 or better mark.  Villanova has continuously balanced elite academic performance with success in athletic competition. 
 
The women's swimming & diving team, winner of each of the last six BIG EAST titles, had the highest team GPA for the semester with a mark of 3.583.  This is the second straight year that the program has led all Wildcats teams for the fall semester. 
 
One of the honors that a student-athlete can achieve at Villanova is to be named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, which recognizes a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher.  There were 382 student-athletes who reached that benchmark during the fall, including 19 who had a perfect 4.0 semester GPA.  That group of 19 student-athletes represented 13 different teams, eight of which were in-season for at least part of the fall semester.

 
 
The women's swimming & diving and women's track & field teams each had three student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA.  The swimmers included Abbey Berloco, Micaela Grassi and Rayann Jaryszak while the track & field athletes were Samantha Bragen, Adrianna Letros and Amanda McNelis. 
 
Four other teams also had multiple 4.0 student-athletes, including men's track & field (Konrad Bayer, Casey Comber); women's basketball (Mary Gedaka, Grace Lange); rowing (Sierra Land, Mac O'Reilly); and women's soccer (Kristin Barbour, Samantha Rosette).  The other student-athletes with a 4.0 GPA were Jared Wolfe (football); Luke Alexander (golf); Shannon Drakeley (field hockey); Victoria Sebastian (softball); and Kaysie Stuba (water polo).
 
Other academic honors for Villanova Athletics were announced during the fall semester, including the department matching an all-time high with a 96 percent graduation success rate (GSR) in data released by the NCAA in October.  In that release, the Wildcats had 11 of their athletics programs post a perfect 100 percent GSR, including both the men's and women's basketball teams.  All 17 of the varsity sports programs to have a score in the latest data met or exceeded the national average for their sport.
 
There were nine student-athletes from five fall teams named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area teams for their sport.  The list included four football student-athletes (Colin Gamroth; Paul Grattan; Forrest Rhyne; Chucky Smith); two members of the volleyball team (Emma Decker; Allie Olsonoski); and one student-athlete each from men's cross country (Casey Comber); women's cross country (Lydia Olivere); and women's soccer (Kristin Barbour).  Olivere was named the Academic All-Area Performer of the Year in women's cross country.
 
In addition to their success in the classroom, several of the sports that were in-season during the fall semester had strong seasons of competition.  The football team was ranked as high as No. 5 in the national polls while going 9-4 and reaching the FCS playoffs.  Villanova was also one of 19 schools to have both its men's and women's cross country teams qualify for the NCAA Championships.  The women's soccer team also advanced to postseason play, making it to the semifinal round of the BIG EAST Championship for the first time in 15 years.