NORFOLK, Va. – Jessie Klamut of the Old Dominion women’s soccer team earned Conference USA All-Academic Second Team honors on Wednesday, as announced by conference officials. On Tuesday, Klamut was named to the 2014 C-USA All Conference Third Team.
As captain of the Lady Monarchs and the president of the FCA, Jessie has got it done in the classroom, on the pitch and around the community. Klamut was second on the team in points (12), led the team in game-winners (2) and tied for first in assists (2). Klamut was second in the C-USA for shots per game and third in total shots.
As a Dean’s List recipient, Jessie is also a member of the National Society of Leadership & Success, as well as the Alpha Xi Delta sorority. The 5’11” right-footed senior volunteers her time at local churches, children hospitals and with the Special Olympics.
Conference USA continued its devotion to excellence on and off the field as 22 student-athletes were named to the 2014 Conference USA Women's Soccer All-Academic Teams. Every league member was represented on the academic squads, with Middle Tennessee earning the most spots with three.
Three members have perfect 4.0 grade point average, including repeat honoree Middle Tennessee senior Kelsey Bransletter. Bransletter was a 2013 All-Academic First Team selection and is a four-year letterwinner with the Blue Raiders. The defender has played in 52 matches in her collegiate career, while seeing the field in 11 matches this season. Teammate Kelsey Brouwer also claimed first-team academic honors with ha 3.87 GPA in Management. Brouwer has collected 86 saves and seven shutouts this season in goal for Middle Tennessee.
Sophomores Kathryn Sloan of Louisiana Tech and Caitlin Hesse of WKU were the other two student-athletes to post a 4.0 GPA. Sloan earned the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal from her studies in Communication Arts and Design. The talented forward leads the team with 28 points and 11 goals, becoming just the third LA Tech player ever to notch double-digit goals in a single season. Hesse landed on the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List last year majoring in Biology. From her midfield position, Hesse has participated in 17 games and tallied a goal and two assists.
Southern Miss placed two student athletes on the first team as senior Casey Adkins and sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Taylor earned recognition. Adkins, a two-time C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal winner, has a 3.75 GPA in nursing, while leading the Golden Eagles in points and goals despite primarily playing as a defender. Taylor has been consistent on and off the field this year with a 3.88 GPA in Finance and holding the highest saves per game average in C-USA play with 7.22.
A repeat selection from a year ago was Florida Atlantic junior Claire Emslie. The striker earned a C-USA Commissioner’s Medal in 2013 and followed that up by improving her GPA to 3.93 in Exercise Science to earn first-team honors. First-Team All-C-USA member Kelly Culicerto of Marshall also finds her way on the All-Academic first team with a 3.67 GPA as a Business Management major. Culicerto netted a career-high eight scores and 17 points this season to tie with her sister Kristine for tops on the team.
Joining Culicerto on both first-team lists are North Texas sophomore Rachel Holden and UTEP senior Hannah Asuchak. The 2013 Offensive Player and Freshman of the Year, Holden is a Kinesiology major with a Health Promotion minor with a 3.78 GPA and a star striker with four goals this year. Asuchak lodged the most minutes of any Miner field player as the team's sweeper, while also maintaining a 3.90 GPA in Pre-Business.
Rounding out the All-Academic First Team were seniors Amy Czyz of Rice and Allie Auscherman of WKU. Czyz captained the Owls squad to the second-best record in the conference and the number two seed in the C-USA Championship. Auscherman, holding a 3.96 cumulative GPA as an exercise science major, was a three-time Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List honoree and has completed perfect 4.0 semesters in five of six semesters at WKU.
This year's C-USA Championship begins tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Charlotte, North Carolina, with quarterfinal matches at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. EST. The championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. EST and will be aired live on Fox Sports Network. The first two days will be streamed through the C-USA Digital Network. Conference USA's official website, www.ConferenceUSA.com, will provide updates, box scores and recaps from all seven matches. There will also be updates on Conference USA's official Facebook page and Twitter account @Conference_USA.
A complete list of the two all-academic team selections for 2014 follows:
2014 C-USA WOMEN'S SOCCER ALL-ACADEMIC TEAMS
All-Academic First Team
*Claire Emslie, Florida Atlantic, Junior, 3.93, Exercise Science
Kathryn Sloan, Louisiana Tech, Sophomore, 4.00, Communication Arts and Design
Kelly Culicerto, Marshall, Junior, 3.67, Business Management
*Kelsey Bransletter, Middle Tennessee, Senior, 4.00, Athletic Training
*Kelsey Brouwer, Middle Tennessee, Junior, 3.87, Management
Rachel Holden, North Texas, Sophomore, 3.78, Kinesiology
Amy Czyz, Rice, Senior, 3.62, Sports Management
*Casey Adkins, Southern Miss, Senior, 3.75, Nursing
Brittany Taylor, Southern Miss, Sophomore, 3.88, Finance
Hannah Asuchak, UTEP, Senior, 3.90, Pre-Business
Allie Auscherman, WKU, Senior, 3.96, Exercise Science
All-Academic Second Team
*Tori Fubara, Charlotte, Junior, 3.90, Psychology
Shelby Hicks, Charlotte, Sophomore, 3.81, Pre-Kinesiology
*Ashleigh Shim, FIU, Senior, 3.56, Sports and Fitness Studies
*Johanna Volz, FIU, Senior, 3.77, Sports and Fitness Studies
*Tori Hawkins, Middle Tennessee, Junior, 3.70, Aerospace Technology
Jessie Klamut, Old Dominion, Senior, 3.63, Therapeutic Recreation
Lauren Hughes, Rice, Junior, 3.32, Sports Management
Johanna Liney, UAB, Senior, 3.24, Civil Engineering
Anissa Munson, UTSA, Senior, 3.79, Kinesiology
Iris Dunn, WKU, Sophomore, 3.81, Biology
Caitlin Hesse, WKU, Sophomore, 4.0, Biology
* Repeat Selection