Trio of Sooners Earn Academic All-District Honors

NORMAN – Oklahoma women's tennis student-athletes Ava Catanzarite, Emma Staker and Chloé Noël were named to the College Sports Communicators' NCAA Division I Academic All-District Team for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom, the organization announced Tuesday.

Catanzarite and Staker earned the honor for the third consecutive year, while Noël received her first career recognition.

To be eligible for Academic All-District and Academic All-America honors, student-athletes must be at least sophomores both academically and athletically and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 on a 4.0 scale. Tennis nominees must have competed in at least 70 percent of their team's scoring matches.

Catanzarite, a senior from Pittsburgh, is pursuing a bachelor's degree in advertising. She led the Sooners in singles play with a 29-10 overall record (16-6 in dual matches), primarily competing at the No. 5 position. In doubles, she posted a 13-7 overall mark (10-4 dual).

Staker, a senior from Tulsa, compiled a 24-11 record (16-6 dual) in singles, competing at the No. 4 position. She finished her collegiate career with 102 singles wins, the most in program history. Staker holds a bachelor's degree in economics and is pursuing a Master of Business Administration.

Noël, a sophomore from Neuville-sur-Sarthe, France, is majoring in biology. She tallied a 7-8 overall singles record (3-0 dual) and went 18-17 (10-11 dual) in doubles, primarily partnering with Julia Garcia Ruiz at the No. 2 position.

The three honorees mark a program record for Oklahoma and increase the Sooners' all-time total to seven Academic All-District selections under head coach Audra Cohen. Women's tennis was added to the Academic All-America program in 2022-23.

Noël was named an Academic All-America finalist and will advance to the national ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees will be announced June 3, 2025.