11 Tigers Named to NFHCA National Academic Squad

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—Wittenberg field hockey landed 11 members of the 2016 team on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Academic Squad on Thursday. Joan Matthews was named a NFHCA Scholar of Distinction, the highest academic honor handed out by the NFHCA, based upon her academic success during the 2016 season.

Michaela Bowler, Sarah Brownell, Kayla Cull, Emily Darnell, Brighid Kortyna, Joan Matthews, Michelle Murray, Zara Tickner, Fleur Vaandrager, Josefien van den Berg and Puck van Liebergen were named to the National Academic Squad.

These 11 Tigers produced GPA's of 3.30 or greater through their first semester of the 2016-17 academic year. In all, there were 208 members of the Division III National Academic Squad that were named Scholars of Distinction for achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.90 or greater.

Matthews was one of these 208 players across the coutnry that earned this distinction. In her first season in Springfield, the Louisville, Kentucky native not only produced in the classroom, but on the field as well, appearing in 14 games for the red and white. 

The individual awards from the NFHCA come a week after the Tigers were named a National Academic Team for compiling a team GPA of 3.0 or greater in 2016-17.

Wittenberg finished 10-9 on the field in 2016, as Murray, Blaine Donnelly and Maddie Goelz all earned NFHCA All-Region accolades for their stellar play.

At the conference level, Wittenberg saw five members earn All-NCAC recognition, while Fleur Vaandrager and Audrey Coler were named to the 2016 NCAC All-Tournament Team.