PORTLAND, Ore. — Sabina-Elena Preda will beat you on the tennis courts, and then tell you the exact angles and trajectories she used to beat you. The junior on the Portland State women's tennis team was named the recipient of the David Fitzpatrick Mathematics and Statistics Scholarship, one of the most prestigious scholarships within the math department at Portland State.
 
All juniors in the math department with a GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible for the scholarship, and the math department only awards two scholarships of $2,000 each on a competitive basis, with preference for students intending to enter the field of actuarial science.
 
"It's a great honor to receive this scholarship," Preda said. "I applied for this scholarship because I am interested in actuarial sciences and I admire Mr. Fitzpatrick for what he has achieved as an actuary, which is my goal after I graduate. Coach [Sterling] told me my freshman year about actuarial science. I didn't know anything about actuarial science until then, but I liked it right away because it combines math and stats, two of the subjects I am very passionate about."
 
Preda also received the Robert W. Rempfer Math Scholarship last year, and has been a two-time ITA Scholar Athlete and two-time Academic All-Big Sky selection.
 
The Vikings as a team have been a consistently strong team academically, as they have been recognized as an ITA All-Academic team in each of the past six seasons, every year under head coach Jay Sterling.
 
"It makes me really proud – proud of Sabina, proud of our players, and proud of our program as a whole," Sterling said. "When our athletes are recognized for what they do off of the court, it's special. When one adds in the 20 hours a week of practice time, travel time, missed classes, training room time, time for community service, public relations events, and other demands on today's student-athletes, it's a pretty amazing accomplishment. It shows the excellent time-management skills and extraordinary dedication that our players like Sabina have to their academics."