Nov. 5, 2008

Women's Soccer All-Academic Release

IRVING, Texas- Conference USA's commitment to excellence continues to show as 23 women's soccer student-athletes have been named to the 2008 Conference USA All-Academic Teams. East Carolina, Rice and Memphis produced two selections apiece to the first-team, while Houston, Marshall, Southern Miss, Tulane, UAB, and UCF each had one student-athlete chosen. In addition to the 12 members placed on the first-team, Colorado College, Houston, Memphis, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulsa and UTEP also add 11 players to the second-team.

Senior defenders Erin Johnson of Marshall and Kate Murphy of Memphis receive their third-straight C-USA All-Academic Team honor, while also serving as captains for their respective teams. Johnson holds a 3.86 grade point average as a pre-med major and Murphy has a solid 4.0 GPA as an international business major with minors in political science and Spanish.

C-USA Offensive Player and Midfielder of the Year, Vendula Strnadova, receives her first All-Academic Team honor. The senior health and human performance major has a 3.97 GPA and leads the Tiger offense in points (15) and goals with six.

The junior duo of Rice's C-USA first-team selections Erin Scott and Shelley Wong are also named to the C-USA All-Academic first team. Scott, a psychology major with a minor in business has a 4.0 GPA. Wong, a double major in economics and managerial studies holds a 3.72 GPA while also leading the Owls in goals this season.

East Carolina's Madison Keller, who has a 3.75 GPA in Biology, was also named to the C-USA All-Conference Team. Fellow senior defender, Nicole Moore, who has a 4.0 GPA in exercise psychology, earns her second consecutive all-academic honor. The seniors are captains for the Pirates and have played and started every contest of their careers.

Houston's all-time leader in shutouts, Shelby Scott, has a 3.92 GPA in psychology and is a repeat selection on this year's all-academic squad. Southern Miss junior, Renee Hrappman, is an international business major with a minor in Spanish and has a 3.72 GPA. Tulsa senior Rachel Robinson earns all-academic honors this year with a 3.79 GPA in chemical engineering.

UAB's Danielle Blair has been a crucial part of UAB's defense while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and double majoring in marketing and management. Sarah de Leon of UCF rounds out the first team with a 3.78 GPA in hospitality management. The senior defender helped the Knights earn a top-20 national ranking this year.

A complete list of the All-Academic winners follows:

2008 Conference USA Women's Soccer All-Academic Team
First Team
Name/School/Class/GPA/Major
Madison Keller/East Carolina/Senior/3.75/Biology
*Nicole Moore/East Carolina/Senior/4.00/Exercise Psychology
*Shelby Scott/Houston/Senior/3.92/Psychology
*Erin Johnson/Marshall/Senior/3.86/Pre-Medicine
*Kate Murphy/Memphis/Senior/4.00/International Business
Vendula Strnadova/Memphis/Senior/3.97/Health and Human Performance
Erin Scott/Rice/Junior/4.00/Psychology
Shelley Wong/Rice/Junior/3.72/Economics, Managerial Studies
Renee Hrappman/Southern Miss/Junior/3.72/International Business
Rachel Robinson/Tulsa/Senior/3.79/Chemical Engineering
Danielle Blair/UAB/Junior/4.00/Marketing and Management
Sarah de Leon/UCF/Senior/3.78/Hospitality Management

*Repeat Selection