DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University 2013 graduate and former women’s tennis student-athlete, Olesya Palko, was named to the Capital One Academic All-District Women’s At-Large Team announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Friday, May 17.

The Kyiv, Ukraine native finished her academic career with a bachelor’s of science in biology/pre-med and chemistry minor in May 2013, while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average throughout her education at NCCU.

During the 2013 season, Palko competed in the No. 1 position for the Lady Eagles with 11-10 overall record, including wins over No. 1 singles players from Charlotte and Radford as the team set a school record of 14 wins.

As a junior, she was named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team at No. 1 singles and selected to the All-MEAC Second Team. She finished her career with a singles record of 52-31 (.627).

Palko also received the University Award for Academic Excellence, the university's second-highest honor (Spring 2013), and the Award for Highest Academic Performance by a Senior from the NCCU Department of Biology (Spring 2013). She was also a CREST and NASA Centers Scholar in the Department of Biology (2013), served as a Research Assistant in the Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute at NCCU, and was a part of the Oral Cancer Project (Aug. 2011-May 2013).

The 2013 Capital One Academic All-District® At-Large Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, have been released to recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Capital One has been the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA’s Academic All-America teams programs since 2011.

The Academic All-District® teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada.