The Arcadia University Department of Athletics and Recreation presents the 2019-20 Arcadia Knights Awards Week, beginning Monday, May 4 through Friday, May 8. The Arcadia Knights Awards Week presentations will be available to view on all of the Knights' social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and arcadiaknights.com.
Arcadia Knights Awards Week: Male and Female Senior Athletes of the Year
Awarded annually to one male and one female student-athlete who has completed their final season of eligibility and has played at least two seasons at Arcadia. Recipient must demonstrate outstanding athletic achievement, strong academic performance, and overall positive contributions to Arcadia. Selection criteria includes - but is not limited- to exceptional athletic ability, recognition by conference or sport organizations for athletics achievement, teamwork, work ethic, coachability, and sportsmanship.
AUSTIN BRAAS - Men's Volleyball
Senior | Lititz, Pa. | Warwick
Braas, a two-time, First-team AVCA All-American, led the Knights to the program's first-ever MAC title in 2019 while becoming the NCAA Division III Individual Statistical Champion in hitting percentage. He was also named a 2020 AVCA All-East Region selection after his continued dominance on the court in his senior season, leading the Knights in kills (178), points (220.5), and hitting percentage (.444) while ranking second in total blocks (65.0). The senior's .444 hitting percentage stood as the top mark in all of NCAA Division III at season's end, and paced the MAC for the second-consecutive season.
The Lititz, Pa. native was also a two-time (2018, 2019) First-team All-MAC and 2019 Academic All-MAC selection, 2017 ECAC Division III South Rookie of the Year, 2017 All-ECAC pick, and a three-time MAC Academic Honor Roll recipient. The senior graduates with 898 kills and a .406 hitting percentage in 113 matches to go along with 374.0 total blocks.
(Video) "This is very deserving for Austin, he has accomplished so much at Arcadia in his time here. An incredible student, he's looking to go to law school after his time at Arcadia, but he was also able to accomplish something that hasn't been done at Arcadia in being the first, two-time First-team All-American for men's volleyball. I'm very proud of him. He was a captain, he's a leader, and we're going to miss him tremendously. I'm very excited to follow everything he does in life and I'm very proud of him and everything he has done to help blaze the trail for our men's volleyball program." -
Eli Porr (Head Coach, Men's Volleyball)
MARY MURRAY - Softball
Senior | Bellmawr, N.J. | Baptist Regional
Murray, the 2020 MAC Softball Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, led the Knights to their first-ever MAC Commonwealth Championship and NCAA Division III Softball Tournament appearance in 2019, earning MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year and first-team all-conference honors along the way. Her success continued on the national stage in the NCAA Tournament, as Murray was named to the Ewing Regional All-Tournament Team due in large part to a complete-game, six-hit shutout against Mount Aloysius to advance the Knights to the regional title game.
Several more accolades came in for Murray at season's end, as the Bellmawr, N.J. native was named a 2019 NFCA First-team All-Region and All-America Scholar-Athlete selection. Additionally, Murray was selected to the CoSIDA/Google Cloud Academic All-District First-team, the
Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Softball Team, and an Academic All-MAC selection. Following the 2019 season, Murray competed with the Great Britain Under-22 National Team in the Canada Cup and the Great Britain Representative Team in the Women's European Cup in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria.
Murray also reigned in 2018 First-Team All-MAC Commonwealth and 2017 Second-Team All-MAC Commonwealth honors and was a three-time MAC Academic Honor Roll recipient.
(Video) "MP deserves this award because she's an exceptional athlete, strong student, and has taken advantage of everything Arcadia has to offer. Along with being involved in many different departments across campus, she was highly involved in the study abroad program by spending two semesters abroad herself through her career. In the classroom, she's earned a cumulative GPA of a 3.78 along with multiple semesters of a 4.0. Lastly, MP has been recognized by the MAC multiple times over her career, including being named Pitcher of the Year in 2019 as well as NFCA First-team All-Region. Mary Pat has played an integral part in the positive turn in our team's culture over the last few years, as well as a major piece of our program's success and last year's NCAA Tournament run." -
Sarah Colletti (Head Coach, Softball)
Arcadia Knights Awards Week Schedule
(all presentations begin at 12 p.m. EST)
Monday, May 4
-Awards of Merit
Tuesday, May 5
-Male and Female Athletic Training Awards of Grit
-Male and Female Strength & Conditioning Awards
-Team Strength & Conditioning Award
Wednesday, May 6
-Male and Female Scholar Athletes of the Year
-Male and Female Team Academic Awards
Thursday, May 7
-Shirley Liddle Service Award
-ECAC Award of Appreciation
-NCAA Woman of the Year Award
Friday, May 8
-Male and Female Senior Athletes of the Year
-President's Cup
