WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Two Monmouth
University women's lacrosse players were named to the 2012 Intercollegiate
Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association (IWLCA) Academic Honor Roll, while once
again the entire squad's grade point average earned them the team award.
Recent graduates, Olivia Salata (Broomall, Pa./Archbishop Carroll),
a Communication major who graduated with a 3.50 GPA, and Erica Abendschoen (West
Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) a Business/Finance major who finished her career
with a 3.49 GPA, were named to the IWLCA Individual Academic Honor Roll.
"It is such a pleasure to see our lacrosse team do so well
academically and honored by the IWLCA," said Monmouth head coach Denise Wescott. "I am proud of their efforts in the classroom
and think this is as important as winning an Northeast Conference Championship.
Their hard work has really paid off in so many ways."
"Olivia has done so
much for Monmouth and our lacrosse program working with the Apple project,
speaking at our sport's banquet and spending time with cable TV as a sports
commentator," said Wescott. "She has always gone the extra mile to excel in her
major, and hopefully one day we will see her on ESPN."
"Erica is one of our hardest workers on the field and in the
classroom," said Wescott. "She has
always set high standards and has been dedicated toward achieving her goals. As
a captain this year she helped her teammates raise the bar in winning the NEC
Championship, and now can celebrate academically too."
The IWLCA recognized 42 schools as earning Academic
Squad honors for the 2012 season, down from 56 the previous year. Teams with
GPA of 3.0 or higher earned Academic Squad honors. The Hawks earned a
collective team GPA of 3.29 in 2012.
In April the team won its fourth Northeast Conference
(NEC) Tournament Championship, and first since 2007, with an 11-3 victory over
Mount St. Mary's. In June the team was
honored with a joint legislative resolution of the New Jersey Senate and
General Assembly for outstanding efforts in the sport of lacrosse.
