June 12, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State women's tennis player Silvia Tornier was named to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-America University At-Large Second Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday.
The Verizon Academic All-America Teams program recognizes student-athletes who have succeeded on the field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected by votes from CoSIDA. To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00. The women's at-large team represents 12 different Division I sports: crew, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming, tennis and water polo.
Tornier, a senior from Hamburg, Germany, who earned second-team District VIII honors as a junior and first-team district honors last month, was one of 45 student-athletes honored on a total of three teams. Tornier, who earned her bachelor's degree in kinesiology and is currently working on her MBA, was one of just three tennis players on the squad and was the only player in any sport from a California school. She is the 11th student-athlete in San Diego State history to earn Verizon Academic All-America honors and the first women's tennis player to earn the distinction.
The two-time Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year, Tornier played number one singles and number one doubles for the Aztecs this past season. The San Diego State women's tennis team advanced to its 17th NCAA team tournament, claimed the school's first Mountain West Conference women's tennis tournament championship and ended the campaign ranked 27th in the nation.
Tornier, a three-time member of the all-conference singles and doubles teams, posted a 24-8 record in singles and teamed with Indra Erichsen to record a 26-6 doubles record. She ended the season ranked 90th nationally in singles and 44th in doubles. A career four-time recipient of conference player of the week award, she ended her career by winning her final 14 singles matches.