Burrell and Hughson earn Third Team Google Cloud Academic All-American honors
AUSTIN, Texas (June 12, 2018) – Senior Thomas Burrell of the Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Volleyball Team and senior Sarah Hughson of the Elmira College women's lacrosse and ice hockey teams earned Third Team Google Cloud Academic All-American honors Tuesday, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)
announced.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Burrell is the sixth Stevens men's volleyball player, and third in the last four seasons, to earn CoSIDA All-American accolades. Burrell was one of just three men's volleyball players among the 45 student-athletes recognized as All-Americans.
Burrell compiled a 3.66 GPA as a computer engineering major and will earn his Master's degree next year. The Somerset, New Jersey native led the nation in Blocks per Set en route to earning First Team All-American accolades from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). As a senior, Burrell collected 21 solo blocks and 123 block assists over 101 sets, while posting 13 matches with five or more blocks, including a career-high 10 in the NCAA quarterfinals. Burrell also added 217 kills on 351 attacks with just 39 errors to finish second in Division III with a .507 attack percentage. Burrell's blocks per set total and hitting percentage each rank among the top-10 single-season performances in program history and the middle hitter concluded his career ranking among the top-six in program history in both statistics.
A two-time All-American, Burrell was named Player of the Year by the Empire 8 Conference as a senior, while earning First Team All-Conference accolades from both the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) and the E8.
Hughson is the first Soaring Eagle to receive the award from CoSIDA since Leah Malliris '01, the all-time leader in kills in EC women's volleyball history, did so as a senior in 2000.
Hughson, a forward on the EC women's ice hockey team and a stellar midfielder for the women's lacrosse team, recently graduated magna cum laude with a 3.67 GPA in business administration and a concentration in marketing. A member of the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society and an Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Academic Honor Roll award winner, Hughson's senior campaign was her greatest in four years donning the Purple and Gold.
The East Haddam, Connecticut, native was elected the EC Female Athlete of the Year, a CCM/American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) First-Team All-American, the UCHC Player of the Year and the UCHC Tournament MVP. She posted career highs and ranked among national leaders in points (49), goals (28), power-play goals (9) and game-winning goals (5). Her point total ranked eighth in program single-season history, while her goal total is tied for fourth place in the EC record books. With the women's lacrosse team, Hughson, an Empire 8 All-Conference Honorable Mention, set a new program record for caused turnovers (121) after registering a career-high 45 and leading the E8 with 4.09 caused turnovers per game in 2018.