A total of 28 Auburn student-athletes have been named to the 2008-09 Southeastern Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll, it was announced Wednesday by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

The 2008-09 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2008 Spring, Summer and Fall terms.

Auburn football had the most athletes earn SEC Academic Honor Roll distinctions with 13, followed closely by soccer with 11. The football honorees include Neil Caudle (Pre-Building Science), Wade Christopher (Pre-Medicine), Antonio Coleman (Criminology), Jared Cooper (Pre-Nursing Science), John Cubelic (Radio, TV & Film), Michael Gibson (Civil Engineering), Josh Harris (Political Science), Morgan Hull (Pre-Medicine), Ryan Pugh (Pre-Building Science), Mike Slade (Undeclared Liberal Arts), Jackson Timmerman (Physics), Tommy Trott (Public Administration) and Bailey Woods (Public
Administration).

The Auburn soccer team members that were recognized include Monica Afanador (Public Relations), Carolyn Cohen (Economics), Stephanie Fransoso (Pre-Dentistry), Heather Havron (Pre-Business), Becca Howell (Marketing), Jenn Johnson (Psychology), Kara Kasten (Accountancy), Jenni Prescott (Early Childhood Education), Addie Ragsdale (Pre-Graphic Design), Gabi Rivera (Psychology) and Kasey Warren (Marketing).

Auburn volleyball had four of its student-athletes selected, including Milena Bukinac (International Business), Lauren Mellor (Apparel Merchandising, Production Design, and Management), Sara Shanks (Exercise Science) and Rebecca Simon (Pre-Computer Science).

Women’s tennis falls at Georgia Tech
ATLANTA — All-Americans Fani Chifchieva and Alex Haney provided wins for the No. 27 Auburn (0-1, 0-0 SEC) women’s tennis team, but it was not enough as eighth-ranked Georgia Tech (1-0, 0-0 ACC) defeated the Tigers, 5-2, on Wednesday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center. 

“We showed some nervousness in the doubles that put us in a hole early on each court,” head women’s tennis coach Tim Gray said.

“We cannot do that against teams of Georgia Tech’s caliber. We settled down in singles and competed extremely well and had a chance to sweep the top three positions. Georgia Tech’s experience showed through at crunch time. We had great wins from Fani and Alex.”

Auburn rallied late, but couldn’t overcome early deficits to start the afternoon in doubles play.

Georgia Tech’s fourth-ranked duo of Amanda McDowell and Irina Falconi defeated Chifchieva and Melissa Koning 8-4. Christy Striplin and Noelle Hickey won the doubles point for the Yellow Jackets by the same score against the Tiger duo of Haney and Myrthe Molenveld, 8-4.

Playing in the No. 3 spot, Georgia Tech’s Sasha Krupina and Hillary Davis held off Chappell and Hastenrath for an 8-6 win.

Chifchieva, currently ranked sixth, rebounded from a 6-0 blanking in the first set, for a 6-2, 7-6 victory over defending NCAA Singles champion and 11th-ranked Amanda McDowell. It is the first time in three
meetings that Chifchieva has defeated McDowell and the win avenges her loss to McDowell in the semifinals at the NCAA Singles Championship in 2008.

Registering an upset in singles play was No. 86 Haney, who handed No. 23 Falconi a 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 setback to pick up the Tigers first singles victory.

The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday against No. 40 Louisville in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Clemson, S.C., at 2 p.m.