Program-Best Six Deacons Named to 2024 ACC All-Academic Team
6/18/2024 9:24:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Wake Forest women’s tennis continues to excel on and off the courts.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The month of June continues to be a successful period of postseason accolades for Wake Forest women's tennis, as six players, tied for a program record, were named to the 2024 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team, announced by the conference office.
Mia Ahmad, Nevena Carton, Marcella Cruz, Sankavi Gownder, Brooke Killingsworth and Casie Wooten all earned nods within this year's list.
It marked a fourth straight All-Academic yearly honor for Killingsworth. Wooten has now tallied three consecutive selections, while Ahmad and Carton repeated from a year ago. The accolade was a first for both Cruz and Gownder, in their first years at Wake Forest.
Prior to the 2022-23 school year, the Demon Deacons had five members tabbed to the Academic Team in two of the last three years.
"Congratulations to the six players who earned ACC All-Academic honors this year," said head coach Jeff Wyshner. "Our program believes in a true collegiate experience as a student-athlete that will leave one with incredible memories earned together and an education and degree that will make one's future brighter. It is exciting to see these players recognized for embodying that ideal!"
Mia Ahmad | Senior | Albertson, N.Y. | Health & Exercise Science
The four-year senior showed her reliability as a team veteran again during her senior campaign, especially in doubles. Ahmad recorded 12 victories through both the fall and spring in doubles, mainly teaming up with freshman Sankavi Gownder during dual matches. She also made seven appearances in singles for the spring, holding down the No. 5 and No. 6 positions in the lineup en route to capturing three solo victories.
Nevena Carton | Sophomore | Locust, N.J. | Communications
Again mainly competing at the No. 4 spot for Wake Forest in singles during her second year, Carton racked up 13 wins for the entire year, 10 of which happened in dual matches. The New Jersey native caught fire during the month of March, going 8-2 in solo matches from March 1 to March 22, as all but one of her eight victories resulted in straight sets. Additionally, she landed a ranked win over No. 76 Shahar Biran of South Carolina during the Gamecocks' hosted Carolina Kickoff -- Wake Forest's first event of the spring. Four ACC wins went Carton's way throughout the spring.
Marcella Cruz | Graduate Student | Marlboro, N.J. | MS Management
In her lone year with the Deacs, Cruz acted as a key component, recording double-digit wins in both singles and doubles for the school year, fall and spring combined. The Vanderbilt transfer paired with senior Brooke Killingsworth to become one of the ACC's notable doubles teams, as the two pieced together a 12-9 record in dual matches. Cruz grabbed ten solo victories during the spring and won three of her last four singles matches to close the regular season.
Sankavi Gownder | Freshman | Cypress, Texas | Undeclared
Gownder impressed during her first collegiate year, ranking second on the squad in combined singles wins through the fall and spring (17), dual-match singles wins (14) and combined doubles wins for the fall and spring (15). She spent the majority of her time at the No. 5 position within Wake Forest's singles lineup while teaming up with senior Mia Ahmad and sophomore Whitley Pate mostly for doubles. The Texas native captured more doubles wins in non-dual match competition compared to any other Deacon, finishing with eight. On Jan. 16, Gownder picked up her first career ranked singles victory at South Carolina's annual Carolina Kickoff, defeating No. 100 Eleonora Molinaro of Tennessee in a straight-sets decision.
Brooke Killingsworth | Senior | Rogers, Ark. | Health & Exercise Science
A recipient of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) 2024 Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award, Killingsworth helped pace things as an experienced player and finished third on the roster in singles victories for dual-match play (12). She took over the No. 2 singles spot within the Deacs' lineup for the entire spring and totaled four solo wins over ranked opponents, a mark that finished second-best on the roster behind her classmate, Casie Wooten. Killingsworth's strong play in doubles alongside Marcella Cruz led to the pairing being named ACC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 20, earning the nod as the first-ever Wake Forest tandem to win the new honor.
Casie Wooten | Senior | Torrance, Calif. | Health & Exercise Science
Named to the 2024 All-ACC Singles Third Team, Wooten again shined during her final collegiate season while serving as team captain. She was the lone Deac to be ranked in the ITA Singles section for the spring's entirety, reaching as high as No. 25 in the country, and made a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championships for the postseason. Wooten led Wake Forest with 15 singles wins in dual play while registering seven wins over ranked opponents for the entire year. She collected six wins against ACC competition and also performed well in doubles, tallying 12 victories for the spring -- the second-highest mark on the roster. Earning ACC Player of the Week honors on two separate occasions (Jan. 16 and Feb. 20), Wooten became the first Wake Forest player to win ACC Player of the Week twice in the same season since Bea Bielik in 2002.
Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0-grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team's contests.
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Mia Ahmad, Nevena Carton, Marcella Cruz, Sankavi Gownder, Brooke Killingsworth and Casie Wooten all earned nods within this year's list.
It marked a fourth straight All-Academic yearly honor for Killingsworth. Wooten has now tallied three consecutive selections, while Ahmad and Carton repeated from a year ago. The accolade was a first for both Cruz and Gownder, in their first years at Wake Forest.
Prior to the 2022-23 school year, the Demon Deacons had five members tabbed to the Academic Team in two of the last three years.
"Congratulations to the six players who earned ACC All-Academic honors this year," said head coach Jeff Wyshner. "Our program believes in a true collegiate experience as a student-athlete that will leave one with incredible memories earned together and an education and degree that will make one's future brighter. It is exciting to see these players recognized for embodying that ideal!"
Mia Ahmad | Senior | Albertson, N.Y. | Health & Exercise Science
The four-year senior showed her reliability as a team veteran again during her senior campaign, especially in doubles. Ahmad recorded 12 victories through both the fall and spring in doubles, mainly teaming up with freshman Sankavi Gownder during dual matches. She also made seven appearances in singles for the spring, holding down the No. 5 and No. 6 positions in the lineup en route to capturing three solo victories.
Nevena Carton | Sophomore | Locust, N.J. | Communications
Again mainly competing at the No. 4 spot for Wake Forest in singles during her second year, Carton racked up 13 wins for the entire year, 10 of which happened in dual matches. The New Jersey native caught fire during the month of March, going 8-2 in solo matches from March 1 to March 22, as all but one of her eight victories resulted in straight sets. Additionally, she landed a ranked win over No. 76 Shahar Biran of South Carolina during the Gamecocks' hosted Carolina Kickoff -- Wake Forest's first event of the spring. Four ACC wins went Carton's way throughout the spring.
Marcella Cruz | Graduate Student | Marlboro, N.J. | MS Management
In her lone year with the Deacs, Cruz acted as a key component, recording double-digit wins in both singles and doubles for the school year, fall and spring combined. The Vanderbilt transfer paired with senior Brooke Killingsworth to become one of the ACC's notable doubles teams, as the two pieced together a 12-9 record in dual matches. Cruz grabbed ten solo victories during the spring and won three of her last four singles matches to close the regular season.
Sankavi Gownder | Freshman | Cypress, Texas | Undeclared
Gownder impressed during her first collegiate year, ranking second on the squad in combined singles wins through the fall and spring (17), dual-match singles wins (14) and combined doubles wins for the fall and spring (15). She spent the majority of her time at the No. 5 position within Wake Forest's singles lineup while teaming up with senior Mia Ahmad and sophomore Whitley Pate mostly for doubles. The Texas native captured more doubles wins in non-dual match competition compared to any other Deacon, finishing with eight. On Jan. 16, Gownder picked up her first career ranked singles victory at South Carolina's annual Carolina Kickoff, defeating No. 100 Eleonora Molinaro of Tennessee in a straight-sets decision.
Brooke Killingsworth | Senior | Rogers, Ark. | Health & Exercise Science
A recipient of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) 2024 Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award, Killingsworth helped pace things as an experienced player and finished third on the roster in singles victories for dual-match play (12). She took over the No. 2 singles spot within the Deacs' lineup for the entire spring and totaled four solo wins over ranked opponents, a mark that finished second-best on the roster behind her classmate, Casie Wooten. Killingsworth's strong play in doubles alongside Marcella Cruz led to the pairing being named ACC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 20, earning the nod as the first-ever Wake Forest tandem to win the new honor.
Casie Wooten | Senior | Torrance, Calif. | Health & Exercise Science
Named to the 2024 All-ACC Singles Third Team, Wooten again shined during her final collegiate season while serving as team captain. She was the lone Deac to be ranked in the ITA Singles section for the spring's entirety, reaching as high as No. 25 in the country, and made a second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championships for the postseason. Wooten led Wake Forest with 15 singles wins in dual play while registering seven wins over ranked opponents for the entire year. She collected six wins against ACC competition and also performed well in doubles, tallying 12 victories for the spring -- the second-highest mark on the roster. Earning ACC Player of the Week honors on two separate occasions (Jan. 16 and Feb. 20), Wooten became the first Wake Forest player to win ACC Player of the Week twice in the same season since Bea Bielik in 2002.
Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0-grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team's contests.
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