Tusculum’s Zamora, Wingate’s Ferguson Selected as SAC Tennis Scholar-Athletes
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Tusculum junior Luis Zamora and Wingate junior Kelli Ferguson have been named the 2012 SAC Tennis Scholar-Athletes of the Year, an award which recognizes a combination of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service and leadership.
The scholar-athletes are selected by the conference's Faculty Athletic Representatives.
Zamora has played primarily at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles for Tusculum this season, recording a combined total of 11 wins. He helped TC finish 5-4 in the SAC and earn the No. 4 seed in the 2012 Food Lion SAC Tennis Championship.
The Santiago, Chile native was chosen as a team captain by his Pioneer teammates prior to the season, and is a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete selection.
In the classroom, Zamora boasts a 3.96 GPA majoring in business management and economics. He is a multi-year selection to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, the Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, the Charles Oliver Gray Honor List and the Tusculum Dean's List.
Zamora is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society -- which acknowledges the top-10 percent of each class - and was the 2010-11 Duffield Award recipient, an honor given to the Tusculum student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA.
An active member in the local community as well, Zamora is heavily involved with groups including the Tusculum Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, "Help Me Help You, Inc.", the TC Bonner Leader's Program and the TC Business Club.
He is also in the process of creating a Center for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship at Tusculum, and is the founder and president of the Study Abroad and Global Awareness organization on campus.
"Luis epitomizes the pinnacle of being an outstanding student-athlete," said Zamora's coach Tommy Arnett. "He is one of those rare young individual who really does think outside the box.
"He serves on this campus as a role model for anyone desiring to be successful in academics as well as in the field of athletics."
Ferguson, meanwhile, had a standout regular season on the court for conference-champion Wingate, going 14-2 at the No. 5 singles position and 8-3 at No. 3 doubles. She was the Most Valuable Player at last year's SAC Tennis Championship.
Ferguson currently carries a 3.84 GPA majoring in chemistry. During her three years on campus, the Concord, N.C., native has been selected to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, the Wingate President's and Dean's Lists, the Capital One Academic All-District Team and the Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Chi academic fraternities.
She has also been a participant at Wingate's Summer Research Symposium, and was awarded a research grant in the summer of 2011.
Ferguson frequently gives back to her campus and local community as well, volunteering with numerous groups and initiatives that include Habitat for Humanity, the Charlotte Racquet Club, United Way and the Wingate Kids Day.
A member of the Bulldog Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Ferguson also serves as a peer mentor for incoming freshmen and assisted with a breast cancer awareness fundraiser in 2011.
"Kelli is a very bright and outgoing individual, "said Wingate head coach Michael Cabana. "She has established herself as a vital member of the women's tennis team, both academically and athletically.
"These characteristics have made her a very dependable member of the tennis program."