ELON, N.C. - Elon University women's soccer senior defender Sydney Schilling has been named to the Academic All-District 3 Women's Soccer Team, as announced Thursday afternoon, Nov. 9, by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
Schilling is the first Elon women's soccer player to earn Academic All-District honors since Claire O'Keefe in 2012 and becomes Elon's third player in the program's Division I era since 1999 to earn the award.
 
By virtue of being named to the first-team, Schilling will be included on the national ballot for CoSIDA Academic All-America. First-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be announced in December.
 
A native of Oviedo, Fla., Schilling maintains a 3.96 GPA as a Physics major and is a member of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She has also earned CAA Commissioner's Awards, and has been a member of the Athletic Director's honor roll, the President's List, as well as the Dean's List during her time as a Phoenix.
 
On the pitch, Schilling continued to maintain the consistency she has shown throughout her career as a senior. This year, she scored two goals and added an assist for five total points playing mainly outside back. Schilling scored the game-winning goal against Davidson on Sept. 17 and converted a penalty at Delaware on Oct.19.
 
The Academic All-District™ teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the seventh year of the expanded Academic All-America® program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America® Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools. The Division II and III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 DII and DIII Academic All-America® teams program.