Lopareva named Academic All-American

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast women's tennis player Margarita Lopareva has been named to the 2018-19 Google Cloud Academic All-America® College Division Women's At-Large Team, released Monday by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

"I am so glad that I was chosen for this award," she said. "It is an honor for me, and I am very happy. I am glad that I could represent Gulf Coast in this way. Thank you to Gulf Coast for giving me all of these sport and academic opportunities."

Lopareva finished with a perfect 4.00 grade-point average, graduating with an associate of arts degree in business prep. She is a two-time MACJC/Region 23 champion in singles, winning at No. 2 as a freshman and No. 1 as a sophomore.

She's the first-ever Gulf Coast student-athlete to receive the honor.

The Moscow, Russia, resident advanced to the main draw semifinals in No. 2 singles in 2018, the best-ever performance by a Gulf Coast player. She signed a scholarship to continue her collegiate career at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C.

The college division includes two-year institutions, Canadian institutions and any United States four-year institutions that are not affiliated with the NCAA or NAIA. It's the first year for the new division in CoSIDA's program, which started in 1952. Eight student-athletes were named to this year's women's at-large team.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.