ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Maria Bedford, Jane Bodensteiner, Peyton Kopel, and Ashley Tarrolly of the College of Saint Benedict tennis team have been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, according to an announcement Tuesday (May 9).

The 2023 Academic All-District® Women's Tennis Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes women's tennis honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. Click here for release on CSC Academic All-District honorees for tennis.
 
Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced June 1. 

For each of the tennis standouts at CSB, this is their first CSB Academic All-District honor. With four recognized, it represents the highest total of academic all-district honorees in CSB tennis program history.

In 2022-23, the CSB tennis team finished the regular season at 9-7 and 6-4 in the MIAC. For the Bennies, it is the squad's first winning season in the MIAC since going 6-4 in 2013-14. Directed by veteran Head Coach Jack Bowe, CSB made its second straight appearance in the MIAC Postseason Tournament. While the Bennies lost a closely contested 5-4 match in the tournament, they had the best conference mark since 2013-14 when they were also 6-4.

Bedford, a senior mathematics major from St. Paul, Minn., finished a special season, 14-3, including 7-3 in conference play, and was recently named honorable mention All-MIAC. And, she was the only member of the Bennies team named to the All-MIAC Playoff Team. Earlier Bedford was named All-MIAC Player of the Week twice (March 13, April 10), becoming the 10^th CSB tennis player honored by the league and just the second (Mackenzie Schurhamer, 2018) to get the weekly conference honor twice. She set a school record by opening the season with 12 straight wins. She is 27-11 in her career in singles. In doubles play this year, she was 13-3, including 7-2 in the MIAC. She was 12-3 when paired with Jane Bodensteiner in doubles. In Bedford's career in doubles at CSB, she had a 38-14 mark.

Bodensteiner, who earned All-MIAC singles and doubles honors as a sophomore – a first at CSB since 2015, had another solid year. An accounting major from Pallatine, Ill., Bodensteiner,has a 25-18 record in singles and 27-16 mark in doubles in her career. In 2023, she had a 10-6 record at No. 4 singles with a 6-4 MIAC mark in 2023. In doubles, Bodensteiner recorded a 12-3 mark with a 7-2 record in league play. She was 4-2 at No. 2 and 8-1 playing at No. 3 doubles.

Kopel had a 7-9 record, including 2-3 at No. 1 and 5-6 at No. 2 singles. In doubles, she was 6-6 overall with a 4-5 record with Tarrolly at No. 1 which earned her All-MIAC first-team honors in doubles. A junior biology major from from Foley, Minn., she also teamed with Anne Bowe, at No. 1 doubles for a 2-2 record and she has a 1-0 record at No. 1 doubles with Greta Nesbit. Kopel earned All-MIAC singles and doubles honors as a sophomore in 2021-22 - a first for the Bennies since 2015. In her career, she is now 23-24 in singles with a 21-26 doubles record.

Tarrolly, a sophomore from St. Cloud, Minn., was regionally ranked No. 6 in singles in NCAA DIII Region VII as she earned first-team All-MIAC honors. Until a loss in the playoffs, she had eighth straight victories, finishing 9-3 overall with a 7-2 mark in league play. Tarrolly, an economics major, had six straight set wins and was 3-1 in a tiebreaker. In doubles, she was 7-6 overall with a 4-5 record in league play, including 6-6 with Kopel.