Women's Soccer | 11/22/2016 10:59:00 AM

- Abilene Christian senior defenderTuesday received one of the highest individual honors in all of collegiate athletics – the title of First Team Academic All America. This accolade is presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).This is Roberts' second Academic All-America citation. She was a Third Team Academic All-America honoree following her junior year of 2015, and the year prior she was tabbed to the Academic All-District Second Team.Only 33 individuals out of hundreds of nominees nationwide make an All-America team with 11 student-athletes named to the first, second and third teams.Roberts was joined on the first team by Connecticut goalkeeper Emily Armstrong and defenders Rashida Beal (Minnesota), Paige Bendell (South Carolina) and Emily Byorth (Clemson). The three midfielders were Chelsea Drennan (South Carolina), Caroline Flynn (Nebraska) and Nandi Mehta (Northwestern), while the chosen forwards were Kendall Ham (Bucknell), Savannah Jordan and Academic All-America of the Year Kathryn Sloan (Louisiana Tech).The ACU soccer program is no stranger to success in the classroom. Earlier this year head coach's Wildcats earned its third Women's Team Academic Award in four years from the National Soccer Coaches Association.The Wildcats collectively posted a 3.51 grade-point average during the 2015-16 academic calendar and were one of only six Southland schools to earn this honor along with Houston Baptist (3.39), Nicholls (3.35), Sam Houston State (3.29), Southeastern Louisiana (3.44) and Stephen F. Austin (3.42).Wildcat soccer additionally had over 85 percent of its roster (25 of 29) make the Fall 2015 Southland Conference's Commissioner's Honor Roll, which lists all student-athletes who finished with at least a 3.0 GPA. And of those 25, eight produced a perfect 4.0 term GPA.Roberts is the second Wildcat soccer player in four years to be named First Team Academic All-America, joining her former back line teammate Brie Buschman (2013). Buschman also received Third Team Academic All-America honors as a sophomore in 2011, and midfielder Julie Coppedge earned a third team designation in 2012.Sixty Wildcats have received Academic-All America distinction since 1963, beginning with football linebacker Jack Griggs. Track and Field's Daniel Block was the most recent Wildcat prior to Roberts to receive this prize, as he earned third-team honors in the spring of 2015.Block, Buschman and Roberts, however, are the only Wildcats to be named Academic All-America since ACU transitioned into NCAA DI athletics.A four-year starter on defense, Roberts was sensational this season for the Wildcats, culminating in her winning First Team All-Conference honors for the first time in her distinguished career. And as the leading vote getter at her position, Roberts earned the additional title of Defender of the Year.Roberts finished her ACU career with 73 games, 6127 minutes played and 10 points – nine of which were scored this season. The Lucas, Texas, native scored goals against four conference opponents in wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Nicholls, Houston Baptist and McNeese, and provided an assist vs. Prairie View A&M.She was voted Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions, including twice this season as the Wildcats finished 9-8-2 overall and placed third in the league standings at 8-2-1.Roberts has maintained a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade-point average through her first six semesters as a biochemistry major. She has frequently made both ACU's Dean's List and the Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll. Roberts also was twice voted First Team Southland Conference All-Academic, and has been nominated once again for the league's Student-Athlete of the Year Award.Roberts is a National AP Scholar who has shown a deep interest in healthcare since her days a student at Lovejoy High School. She shadowed general surgeon Dr. Christopher Bell at Medical City Dallas Children's Hospital prior to her senior year, and later became a certified nursing assistant.During the summer between her freshman and sophomore years at ACU, Roberts traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay to shadow doctors as part of her global healthcare studies class. And in recent semesters she has shadowed three doctors at Abilene Regional Hospital: Dr. John Cole (General Surgeon), Dr. Timothy Bumann (Wound Care), and Dr. Charles Anderson (OBGYN).Roberts' time off the pitch also includes involvement with Meals on Wheels, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, W-Club, and Disability Resources, Inc.,, where she works with physically and mentally disabled adolescents and adults.