Wittenberg Women's Soccer Standout Kelly Foley Earns Second-Team Academic All-America Honors

Kelly Foley

Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University women's soccer standout Kelly Foley, class of 2011 from Dublin, Ohio, has been recognized for the combination of her athletic and academic accomplishments with second-team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

Foley, a three-year starting defensive back for the Tigers, made the Academic All-America list after earning her first career Academic All-District IV award last month. The all-district selections were a result of online voting conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Student-athletes who make the first-team in district voting are then considered for Academic All-America awards by a committee.

Foley, a business and geology double major, was chosen for the team in part thanks to her outstanding 3.98 grade point average. A Dean's List honoree every semester thus far in her collegiate career, Foley has been very active around campus, serving as the Class of 2011 secretary and as a representative for Wittenberg's Emerging Leaders program. In addition, Foley has done volunteer work at a local pre-school.

Kelly Foley and her teammates rallied past Earlham to win the NCAC Tournament title on Saturday, Nov. 4.

A 2009 team captain and the women's soccer team's representative to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Foley helped the Tigers to another tremendous season, ending with records of 12-5-5 overall and 4-2-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). The Tigers finished second in the NCAC regular season before winning their fourth consecutive NCAC Tournament championship to reach the NCAA Division III Tournament for a fourth straight year.

The Tigers bowed out of the national competition in the second round with a 1-0 loss to host Calvin.

Foley was part of one of the stingiest defensive units in all of NCAA Division III in 2009. The Tigers allowed just 13 goals in 22 games, while recording 15 shutouts, good for No. 2 in both the conference and all of NCAA Division III in team shutout percentage. Foley started 20 of the 22 games, including all 15 shutouts. She missed two games - both losses - due to illness.

Foley is the third Wittenberg women's soccer player to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, following in the footsteps of Bobbi Ashby (second team in 1994) and Kathy Aros (third team in 1996 and second team in 1997). Ashby and Aros earned their awards at a time when GTE was the official sponsor of the program, instead of ESPN The Magazine.

Written by: Ryan Maurer
Photos by: Erin Pence

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