May 20, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. – Senior women’s tennis player Colleen Rielley (Overland Park, Kan.) earned the Elite 88 Award Wednesday night at the NCAA Championship banquet in Athens, Ga.
The Elite 88 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships.
Stanford’s Gregory Hirshman was the men’s award winner.
A three-time ITA Scholar-Athlete and BIG EAST Academic All-Star, Rielley recently graduated with a degree in finance from the Mendoza College of Business and a 3.874 grade-point average.
During her four years with the Irish, Rielley has compiled a 64-31 singles mark and an 87-27 record in doubles action. Her 63 doubles dual-match wins ranks 13th all-time in the Irish record books.
Rielley made history as the first-ever Notre Dame signee to have been ranked No. 1 in the USTA girls’ 18s. The two-time BIG EAST all-tournament team selection won the ITA Midwest Regional Singles Championship as a freshman and set a school record for doubles winning percentage in a season during her sophomore campaign.
Following a 5-0 doubles performance at the 2009 NCAA Championships, Rielley and partner Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) became the first Irish women’s tennis players to be named to the NCAA All-Tournament team.
Rielley and the sixth-ranked Irish will take on No. 12 California at 3:00 p.m. (ET) today in the NCAA Championship Round of 16. Live stats will be available at www.georgiadogs.com and a complete recap can be found at www.UND.com.
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