Hempstead, NY - The 2009 Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team was named a Merit Squad by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) recently for its excellence in the classroom. In addition, six Pride student-athletes from the 2009 team earned IWLCA Academic Squad recognition for their strong showing in the classroom.

The IWLCA has announced that 49 institutions in Division I have earned Academic Squad honors, including three that have been named Merit Squads. Teams that have a collective GPA of 3.0 or greater earn the distinction of Academic Squad; the squads with the three highest team GPAs earned the honor of being named a Merit Squad. Wagner led all schools with a team GPA of 3.53 and was named a Merit Squad, as were Stanford and Hofstra.

The IWLCA also has recognized 407 student-athletes at 152 institutions for their excellence in the classroom during the 2008-09 academic year. All student-athletes were nominated by their institutions and have attained at least junior standing academically. Nominees considered had a GPA of at least 3.5 or were in the top 10 percent of their squad. Hofstra's six honorees were the third-most among NCAA Division I institutions.

Jen Bach, Sr., Community Health
Bryana Borrelli, Jr., Physical Education
Lauren Eberling, Sr., Exercise Specialist
Jacquelyn Hetzel, Sr., Speech-Language Hearing Sciences
Courtney O'Connor, Jr., Management
Sandy Wasserbach, Jr., Marketing

2009-09-04