NSU’s Aydogmus Voted Southland Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year
FRISCO, Texas – Northwestern State senior goalkeeper Acelya Aydogmus is the Southland Conference Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Tuesday in conjunction with the All-Academic First and Second Teams.
Earning her second first-team academic all-conference nod, Aydogmus boasts a 3.82 GPA in health and science exercise. She was also named the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year after matching the Southland single-season record with 12 shutouts to finish second all-time with 27 career shutouts. “Ace” was named the Southland Soccer Tournament MVP after recording a pair of clean sheets to help the Lady Demons to their first tournament title since 2005.
Northwestern State, along with UIW and Southeastern, lead the way with five honorees each, followed by HBU and McNeese with four each. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi accounted for three spots. All five of the Lady Demons’ honorees came by way of automatic selection as first-team all-conference nods.
Eleven members of this year’s teams are repeat honorees from past all-academic teams, including four-time selection Havana Johnson of McNeese. SLU’s Megan Gordon and NSU’s Nicole Henry each pick up their third recognition.
The average GPA of this year’s selections comes out to 3.70 with 14 student-athletes owning a GPA of at least 3.75. Three individuals boast a flawless 4.00 GPA in NSU’s Hallie Field and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Reaghan Lang and Emma Gibbs.
Southland Conference All-Academic Teams are voted upon by the head coach, sports information director and an academic/compliance staff member from each school. Student-Athletes of the Year are voted upon by an awards committee which consists of one administrator from each member school. Voting for one’s own athletes is not permitted.
To be eligible for all-academic distinction, an athlete must hold a minimum 3.00 cumulative grade point average through the semester prior to the sport’s championship, completed at least one full academic year at the nominating school prior to the current season, and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competitions during the most recently completed season. Student-Athlete of the Year nominees must have held at least a 3.20 GPA and have completed at least two years of athletic competition at the nominating school, including the current season.
First Team All-Conference athletes who meet all-academic nomination criteria are automatically named all-academic.
2021 Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year: Acelya Aydogmus, Northwestern State
2021 Southland Soccer All-Academic First Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Cl. |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| F |
Olivia Draguicevich*2 |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Pflugerville, Texas |
3.37 |
Communications |
| F |
Mya Guillory*2 |
Southeastern |
Jr. |
Prairieville, La. |
3.47 |
Health Sciences |
| F |
Ellie Williams |
Southeastern |
Jr. |
Frisco, Texas |
3.94 |
Finance |
| F |
Rachel Young* |
McNeese |
Jr. |
Surprise, Ariz. |
3.21 |
Nursing |
| MF |
Isabella Beletic*2 |
UIW |
Gr. |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
3.71 |
Communications |
| MF |
Megan Gordon*3 |
Southeastern |
Sr. |
Clophill, England |
3.92 |
Kinesiology |
| MF |
Kyle Nolen* |
Northwestern State |
So. |
Richardson, Texas |
3.97 |
Exercise Science |
| MF |
Anna Watson*2 |
McNeese |
Sr. |
Spring, Texas |
3.06 |
Biology |
| D |
Eve Clarkson*2 |
UIW |
Jr. |
Whalley, England |
3.90 |
Kinesiology |
| D |
Hallie Field*2 |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Frisco, Texas |
4.00 |
Accounting/Business Admin. |
| D |
Nicole Henry*3 |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Tomball, Texas |
3.36 |
Industrial Engineering Tech. |
| D |
Keely Morrow* |
McNeese |
Gr. |
Nevada, Texas |
3.45 |
Health System Mgmt. |
| GK |
Acelya Aydogmus*^2 |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Cape Coral, Fla. |
3.82 |
Health & Science Exercise |
2021 Southland Soccer All-Academic Second Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Cl. |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| F |
Noor Abukishk |
HBU |
Sr. |
Cairo, Egypt |
3.67 |
Marketing |
| F |
Havana Johnson4 |
McNeese |
Gr. |
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho |
3.56 |
Nursing |
| F |
Reaghan Lang |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Fort Collins, Colo. |
4.00 |
Kinesiology |
| F |
Samantha Palomino |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Helotes, Texas |
3.88 |
Kinesiology |
| MF |
Keeley Ayala2 |
UIW |
Sr. |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
3.20 |
Communications |
| MF |
Ryan Ford |
HBU |
Jr. |
Frisco, Texas |
3.91 |
Marketing |
| MF |
Emma Gibbs |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
Longmont, Colo. |
4.00 |
Nursing |
| MF |
Talin Rizo |
HBU |
Sr. |
San Antonio, Texas |
3.80 |
Kinesiology |
| D |
Payton Adams |
UIW |
Jr. |
Frisco, Texas |
3.96 |
Rehabilitative Services |
| D |
Darby Gillette |
Southeastern |
Sr. |
Meridian, Miss. |
3.79 |
Kinesiology |
| D |
Madison McComasky |
UIW |
Sr. |
Sydney, Australia |
3.85 |
Biology |
| D |
Mia Salas |
HBU |
So. |
San Antonio, Texas |
3.74 |
Kinesiology |
| GK |
Nadine Maher |
Southeastern |
Sr. |
Dublin, Ireland |
3.53 |
Kinesiology |
^ Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year
* Automatic selection; First Team All-Conference
2 Two-time All-Academic selection
3 Three-time All-Academic selection
4 Four-time All-Academic selection