NEW YORK—Villanova has two winners of BIG EAST Team Academic Excellence Awards for 2024-25 as the golf and women's swimming & diving teams were each recognized in an announcement by the conference office on Thursday morning. The award is presented to the 22 teams that compiled the highest collective grade-point averages in each conference sport during the previous academic year. This is the eighth time in 15 years the award has been presented that the Wildcats have had multiple winners in a single year.
 
The winners of the Team Academic Excellence Awards were chosen based on the 2024-25 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 has earned 27 Team Academic Excellence Awards since the honor was created beginning with the 2010-11 academic year. This is the fifth time that women's swimming & diving has achieved the honor and the first win for the golf team.
 
Women's swimming & diving led seven BIG EAST teams in its sport with a 3.706 GPA in 2024-25 while also winning its 12^th consecutive conference title and having 14 members of the team tally All-BIG EAST performances in the pool. Thursday's award announcement is just the latest accolade for the Wildcats for the academic excellence of the team's student-athletes. Villanova earned Scholar All-America Team status from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) for the 20^th straight semester in Spring 2025.
 
Five members of the team – sophomore Peri Gaguzis, sophomore Anna Farley, junior Alexa Fegley, junior Arabella Lee, and junior Katie White were named second team CSCAA Scholar All-Americans for having a GPA of at least 3.5 in addition to achieving a "B" time standard for the national championship or qualified for a diving zone qualification meet.
 
Farley was a member of both the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team and the PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Team, while Lee and sophomore Meghan Tiernan were also CSC Academic All-District selections. Villanova had 29 student-athletes earn a spot on the Spring 2025 Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher.
 
The golf team led 10 BIG EAST teams with a 3.660 GPA for the academic year. For the sixth straight year, the Wildcats earned Presidents Special Recognition from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) when it announced its 2024-25 Team Awards. Teams are eligible for that distinction by having a team GPA above a 3.5 for the academic year.
 
For the fifth straight year, multiple Villanova golfers earned All-America Scholar honors for having a stroke average below 76 and a GPA over 3.2 while participating in more than 50 percent of the team's rounds played during the year. This year's honorees included senior Jackson Lehner and the junior duo of Ryan Pamer and Matt Zerfass. Pamer was recognized on the CSC Academic All-District Team and moved on to earn consideration on the Academic All-America ballot. He combined those accolades with being a second team All-BIG EAST selection and a PING All-Region honoree. Villanova had 10 selections to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for the Spring 2025 semester.
 
In addition to performing at an elite level in the classroom, the Wildcats tallied their highest finish since 2012 at the BIG EAST Championships with a tie for fourth place in the team standings. Pamer tied for seventh place individually and is the second Villanova golfer in the last three years to tally a top 10 finish at the conference championships.