Rusher earns SAC Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of Year

Rock Hill, S.C. —- Catawba Women's Soccer senior Lillie Rusher was named the South Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Thursday afternoon.

The South Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to one student-athlete in each of the Conference's championship sports and is voted on by the SAC's Faculty Athletic Representatives Committee. The winners are selected based on their achievements in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

Rusher, a senior from Salisbury, N.C., is a three-time member of the SAC Commissioner's honor roll, a six-time Catawba College Dean's List honoree, has spent the last three years with the Phi Epsilon honor society and currently holds a 4.0 grade-point average in literature.

On the field, Rusher earned her second consecutive All-SAC selection, earning a spot on the All-Conference Second Team after helping lead a Catawba Indian defense that allowed the fewest goals of any team in the league.

Additionally, Rusher is the co-president of the Student North Carolina Association of Educators, a National Society of Leadership and Success Member along with a recreational soccer coach for the Catawba Soccer Academy. As a sophomore, Rusher served as the editor of the Catawba College literary journal, engaged in volunteer opportunities at the Pedal Factory and Sacred Heart School and served on the Women's Soccer Leadership Team both of her final two seasons.

Rusher is the third SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in program history and the first since Katie DeVitto in 1993.