COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech tennis team achieved the highest mark among all men's tennis programs in the Ohio Valley Conference in the latest Academic Progress Report, released Wednesday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Golden Eagles also ranked second among all public universities in the state.

For the fifth consecutive year, all 14 Tennessee Tech athletic teams comfortably exceeded the national standard for the NCAA multi-year Athletic Progress Rate (APR), with four Tech teams topping the Ohio Valley Conference and two topping all public universities in the state.

Six of Tech’s 14 teams had perfect one-year rates of 1,000, up one from last year, and 11 Tech teams ranked among the top half of schools in the OVC. Compared to all programs nationwide, 11 Golden Eagle teams achieved multi-year rates higher than the national average.

Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year, based on the eligibility, graduation and retention of each scholarship student-athlete. Teams scoring below certain thresholds can face consequences, such as practice restrictions and restrictions on postseason competition. The current multi-year rates are based on the past four years’ performances. The most recent APRs are based on the scores from the 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years.

“We take a great deal of pride in the academic success of all our teams, and these APR rates verify, once again, that we are successfully fulfilling our mission toward our student-athletes," said Mark Wilson, Director of Athletics. “Success in our APR numbers speaks to the diligence of our student-athletes, our coaches and our academic support system and personnel. Our student-athletes are coming in better prepared when they enter Tennessee Tech, and they are staying on track to earn their degrees.”

The six Golden Eagle teams which achieved perfect scores for the most recent year in the report (2012-13) are men’s cross country, golf and tennis, women’s golf, softball and volleyball.

In the multi-year rates, the Tech women’s golf team tied for the highest APR in the OVC, the state and the nation with a mark of 1,000.

The Golden Eagle tennis team (990) ranked first in the league, and was joined atop the OVC by the Golden Eagle soccer (997) and football (965) teams. The Tech softball (997) and men's golf (992) teams each ranked second in the OVC. Other teams among the top half in the league were baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's indoor track and volleyball.

Compared with other in-state public universities, Tech's women's golf and soccer teams had the highest multi-year APR while the softball, football and men's tennis teams ranked second.

“These kinds of APR numbers point out that our student-athletes and our staff continue to take seriously our goal of stressing the importance of academic success,” Wilson said.

Tennessee Tech's 2014 Multi-Year APR Rates

Note: The NCAA expected standard APR score for a team's multi-year rate is 930