ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon softball team produced the seventh-highest team grade-point average among NCAA Division II programs during the 2008-09 academic year, according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).

Ouachita Baptist owned the best team GPA in the country with a 3.663 mark. Arkansas-Monticello (3.579), Barry (Fla.) (3.555), Grand Valley State (3.525), and Rockhurst (3.520) completed the top five. Gannon was tabbed seventh with a 3.425 team GPA.

The Gannon softball program has a strong tradition of stellar student-athletes. The Lady Knights produced the nation's best team GPA in 2000 and ranked fourth in 1999.

Head coach Tom Jakubowski's squad placed 14 student-athletes on the 2009 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) academic team. In all, Lady Knights have earned all-conference academic honors 65 times during the last seven seasons. Seventeen student-athletes have earned Academic All-District accolades over the last nine years, including two who became an Academic All-American.