The Illinois State soccer team had five Redbirds recognized by the Missouri Valley Conference on the 2019 MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, as announced by the conference office Tuesday. Kate Del Fava headlined this year's team, collecting First Team honors for the third year in a row and also earning the title of MVC Women's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Senior Haley Smith and juniors Ashley Santos and Natalie Vaughn-Low also received First Team honors, with senior Megan McEachern being recognized as Honorable Mention.
Nomination criteria included that the student-athletes must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA on a 4.00 scale. They also must have participated in at least 75 percent of regular-season matches or the MVC championship. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not elgible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institutions. Nominees were then voted on by Sport Information Directors at MVC institutions.
Illinois State's five Scholar-Athlete Team selections were the most of any Valley school.
MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team
Kate Del Fava, Sr., MF, 4.00, Pre-Veterinarian Medicine and Animal Science
Del Fava has collected a plethora of awards in her senior season, including MVC Player of the Year, the Elite 17 Award, All-MVC First Team and she is one of 10 finalists in the nation for the Senior CLASS Award. She led the conference in goals (17), points (39), shots on goal (35) and game-winning goals (6) while consisting ranking as one of the best goal scorers in the nation. The midfielder played in every single game for the Redbirds since arriving on campus as a freshman and started in all but two.
Haley Smith, Sr., GK, 3.81, Exercise Science
Smith earned All-MVC First Team honors during her senior season and was recognized as the MVC Defensive Player of the Week four times. She is the Illinois State record holder with 26 career shutouts and is ranked second all-time in the same category. The Nova Scotia, native, started in 19 matches this year, posting 76 saves, nine shutouts and a .768 save percentage.
Ashley Santos, Jr., MF, 4.00, Math Education
Santos was recognized as Honorable Mention All-MVC for the second year in a row earlier in the month, playing in every game this season. The junior averaged over 79 minutes played per game and tallied two assists during the 2019 campaign.
Natalie Vaughn-Low, Jr., F, 3.81, Exercise Science
Vaughn-Low earned All-MVC Second Team accolades this season, totaling 19 points (seven goals and five assists) in 14 appearances this season. The junior scored two goals and tallied an assist in the MVC semifinals, including the game-winning golden goal over Missouri State to advance the Redbirds to the championship.
MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention
Megan McEachern, Sr., D, 3.85, Accounting
McEachern was tabbed All-MVC Second Team in her senior season, starting and playing in all 20 games this season. She averaged over 88 minutes at centerback and helped the defense combine for 10 shutouts on the year, with six of them coming during conference play.
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