SVC women's lacrosse earns team academic honor

2017 Oct 24

The Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) announced its 2017 individual and team academic award winners this week with Southern Vermont College being one of the Zag Sports Academic Honor Squads. Four Mountaineers earned a spot on the Zag Sports Division III Academic Honor Roll.

Senior captains Emily Lesure, Lauren Nesshoever, and Mel Orrell all made their way to the Academic Honor Roll for the second-straight year while junior Lexia Gillette worked her way to the accolade in her first year of eligibility. SVC's Academic Honor Squad laurel is the first in team history.

To be eligible for individual recognition, a student-athlete must be a junior, senior, or graduate student, and she must post a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher following the spring semester. For the team award, the crew needs to earn a collective grade point average of at least 3.0 for the whole academic year.

The 17 Mountaineers on the 2017 team contributed for Southern Vermont to post a 3.29 as a group. SVC joined Regis College and Wheelock College in representing the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) on the Division III squad list.

"I was very excited about our team goals this year - which included excelling in the classroom," said SVC head coach Thomas Otero. "Our team GPA sets a great goal for future teams at Southern Vermont College. It's easy to have a few individuals from a given team excel, but it's amazing when the entire team is able to show that hard work, proper time management, and effort will pay off. The honor reflects greatly on Southern Vermont College which includes its coaches, professors, administrators, and support staff who all contributed to this outstanding award."

Lesure and Orrell both graduated from SVC's Radiologic Sciences program this past May while Nesshoever received her bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences. Gillette is a rising senior in the College's Business Administration program. In total, 14 players from around the NECC earned a spot on the D-III Honor Roll with Regis and Wheelock each seeing five land the accolade.

"It is a tremendous honor for our student-athletes to be in a situation where they are able to excel in the classroom, as well as on the field," Otero continued. "Our three seniors were team leaders since the day our program began; they have always been strong in the academic standards as well as the athletic honors. Having Lexia receive the award also sets a standard and a future path for our team. All four of these athletes were able to show that you can shine on the athletic field and in the classroom with the proper management of effort and time."

The IWLCA is a membership-led, professional association representing the nation's intercollegiate women's lacrosse coaches within Division I, II & III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The IWLCA is a 501c(3) nonprofit educational organization. Zag Sports has been serving the world's best lacrosse teams for nearly 15 years as they journey abroad for team-changing touring experiences in over 25 countries.