SPRINGFIELD, Mo. –  Four Missouri State tennis players were recognized on Wednesday for their hard work in the classroom and on the court. Abbey Belote and Fati Khamissi collected Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team honors, while Alye Darter and Anelisse Torrico Moreno were honorable mention selections.

A senior from Springfield, Belote holds a 3.75 cumulative grade-point-average in exercise and movement sciences. ­­She was a 2017 MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention, as well as a three-time ITA and MVC Academic Honor Roll honoree. She collected seven singles wins with three against Valley opponents this season.

Khamissi, a junior cell and molecular biology major with a 3.75 GPA, collected MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention honors in 2017. The Rabat, Morocco native, led the Bears with 13 wins at No 4 singles and went 5-0 against league opponents this season. She also collected seven wins at No. 3 doubles this spring.

A sophomore from Rogers, Ark., Darter holds a 3.74 GPA as a communications sciences and disabilities major. Darter sits at 9-9 at No. 1 singles for the dual season with a 13-16 record on the year. At No. 1 doubles for the Bears, Darter tallied eight wins in the spring for 14 overall on the year.

Torrico Moreno, a senior accounting major with a 3.47 GPA, is a three-time MVC Academic Honor Roll and ITA Scholar-Athlete Team honoree. The Santa Cruz, Bolivia, native collected eight wins at No. 2 singles for the Bears as well as 11 wins at No. 2 doubles this spring.

The criteria for the MVC's Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standard for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (4.0 scale). Student athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and must have played in 75 percent of their team's contests.

No. 4 seed Missouri State, host of the 2018 MVC Team Tennis Championship, will take on No. 5 seed Bradley at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 27 at Cooper Tennis Complex. Admission is free to all fans.

For all of the latest information on the Missouri State women's tennis team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or follow @MSUBearsTennis on Twitter and Instagram.