June 21, 2004

RICHMOND, VA - Senior women's tennis standout Nataly Cahana (Qiriat Bialik, Israel) was one of ten student-athletes representing nine different institutions have was honored by the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) as recipients of the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award for the spring sports season.

The conference honors one Scholar-Athlete in each of its 21 championship sports. Nominees for the award must be a starter or important reserve on their team and must meet the Academic All-America minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20. The winners were selected by a vote of the sports information directors at each CAA institution.

Earning the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award in the spring sports were: Jeff Palumbo of George Mason University in baseball, Mike Larkin of Towson University in men's golf, Ann Schnell of the College of William & Mary in women's golf, Andy Hipple of the University of Delaware in men's lacrosse, Laurie Bean of Drexel University in women's lacrosse, Alexis Alcantara of Hofstra University in softball, Pedro Nieto of Virginia Commonwealth University in men's tennis, Nataly Cahana of Old Dominion University in women's tennis, Chris Parsons of the College of William & Mary in men's track and field and Kelly Baker of James Madison University in women's track and field.

Cahana is a three-time ITA Academic All-American and is a repeat winner of the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award for women's tennis. The international business major made the CoSIDA Academic All-District squad in 2003 and was also a Virginia Academic All-State pick. On the court, Cahana earned CAA Player of the Year honors in women's tennis for the fourth year in a row. She was ranked 30th nationally by the ITA this season and was selected as the ITA East Region Senior Player of the Year. Cahana reached the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship in 2004 and won the ITA East Regional earlier this season. She compiled a career singles record of 143-28.