ST. LOUIS - The 2022 Missouri Valley Conference women’s soccer team is highlighted by Missouri State’s Grace O’Keefe and UNI’s Lauren Heinsch who have been named MVC Co-Scholar-Athletes of the Year.  This year’s team includes 14 first-team selections and nine honorable-mention picks.

Women's Soccer Scholar-Athlete Team (PDF)

Four honorees on the first-team MVC Scholar-Athlete Team are also first-team all-conference designees, including Nikki Coryell of Valparaiso; Lauren Heinsch of UNI; Nicole Norfolk of Valparaiso; and Grace O’Keefe of Missouri State.  Nine different programs have at least one honoree on either the first-team unit or honorable-mention team.

The criteria for the honor parallels the CSC (formerly CoSIDA) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA (on a 4.00 scale).  Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular-season matches or played in the MVC Tournament.  Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.  Sports Information Directors at MVC institutions voted for the team.  A total of 43 student-athletes met the criteria for the award.