Five Named to Philadelphia Inquirer Fall Academic All-Area Teams

PHILADELPHIA - Five Swarthmore College student-athletes - David D'Annunzio and Micah Rose of the men's soccer team, Genny Pezzola and Allie Coleman of the volleyball team and Jacob Phillips of the men's cross country team - have been selected to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area teams for their respective fall sports, the paper announced over the weekend.

D'Annunzio makes the team for the third time in his career, while Rose and Coleman are now two-time selections. Pezzola and Phillips are on the Academic All-Area teams for the first time in their careers.

In order to be eligible for the All-Star team, an athlete must be of sophomore athletic standing, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or better, and be a starter or key reserve.

D'Annunzio (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont), a 2011 Capital One Academic All-American, is coming off a senior season in which he set the program record for career shutouts (29). For the 2011 season, D'Annunzio had a 0.73  goals-against average, a .770 save percentage and eight shutouts.  D'Annunzio's play on the field and performance in the classroom over his career has earned him a spot on the 2011 All-Centennial Conference second team, Philadelphia Inquirer Academic Performer of the Year honors (2010) and three-consecutive selections to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll ('09, '10, '11).

Rose (Williston, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), a 2011 NSCAA/Continental Tires Men's NCAA Division III All-American,  finished a stellar Garnet career with a five goal, three assist senior season.  A two-time team captain, Rose became the first member of the men's soccer program to be selected to the All-Centennial Conference first team three times in a career. Rose also excels in the classroom, earning Capital One Academic All-America honors in 2011. In a fitting ending to an illustrious career, Rose scored the game-winning goal in the ECAC South Championship match against Medaille, as his curving ball off a free kick in the 104th minute hit the far post and went into the back of the net. For his efforts, Rose was named the tournament MVP.

Coleman (Palo Alto, CA/Palo Alto) makes the Academic All-Area team for the second consecutive season. A member of the Capital One/CoSida Academic All-District IV Volleyball First Team, Coleman led the Garnet in assists and assists per game, with 1,065 and 9.77 respectively, becoming the first player to reach 1,000 assists in a single season. Coleman directed a Garnet offense that ranked first in the conference and 16th in the nation for kills/set (13.08) and second in the conference and 28th in the nation for assists/set (11.82).  She also led the team in service aces and was recently selected to the 2011 All-Centennial Conference second team.

Pezzola (Oakland, CA/St. Mary's College HS) makes the Academic All-Area team for the first time in her illustrious career. The first player in program history named to the the AVCA All-Region team, Pezzola completed the greatest four-year career in Swarthmore volleyball history. Pezzola finished her Garnet  career as the program’s all-time leader in career kills (1,372) and second all-time in  career digs (1,542), breaking the kills mark previously set by Jennifer Wang's '08 (1,171) in a win over Centenary on September 23.  The outside hitter also became the first Swarthmore volleyball player named to the All-Centennial Conference First Team three times (2009, 2010, 2011) and was also a three-time selection to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll. For the 2011 season, Pezzola led the team in kills (338) and kills per game (3.10).

Phillips (Fort Wayne, Ind. Canterbury School) makes the Academic All-Area team for the first time after a breakout junior season in which he became the first member of the Swarthmore cross country team to compete in the NCAA Division III Championship Meet since Marc Jeuland in 2001. Phillips finished 114th out of 279 individual runners with a time of 25:23.68 in the 8K National Championship race. At the NCAA Mideast Regional the week prior, Phillips finished in seventh place with a time of 25:43 to earn his automatic spot in the NCAA Division III Championship Race. Other highlights of Phillips' season include his 10th-place finish at the Centennial Conference Championships, first place finish in the long race at the Dickinson Invitational, his earning of the Centennial Conference Runner of the Week honor, and multiple finishes as the top Garnet runner at races throughout the season.