Six Tar Heel field hockey players were selected Monday to the Academic All-ACC team just over a month after leading UNC to its third consecutive NCAA title in the sport.
Erin Matson, Bryn Boylan, Abby Pitcairn, Meredith Sholder, Eva Smolenaars and Cassie Sumfest each received the honor — which requires student-athletes to have a 3.0 grade point average in both the most recent semester and as a cumulative average over their collegiate careers.
These six athletes are part of 38 total selections within the conference.
Matson has been the unquestioned leader of the team on the field over her first three seasons on campus, winning the Honda Sport Award for the nation’s top player in back-to-back years. The rising senior is a media and journalism major.
Pitcairn and Sholder are also rising seniors who are each majoring in biology. In 2019, Pitcairn won the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the highest GPA of all players competing in the Final Four. Sholder earned First Team All-South Region honors this past season after recording three goals and three assists.
Boylan and Smolenaars were each seniors this past season studying media and journalism alongside Matson. Boylan — who tallied six goals, including three overtime game-winners — graduated in May, while Smolenaars is returning for a fifth year of eligibility next season.
Sumfest finished her degree in business administration last year and is getting ready to enter graduate school. She ended the season with a total of 14 points by way of six goals and two assists.
Each of the six Tar Heels has been on the team for the last three years, as the program has compiled a record of 65-1 with three national titles during that time span.
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