Trojan duo recognized for academic work

By UMO Media Relations
Published in Sports on June 1, 2017 7:00 AM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- University of Mount Olive's Robert Poole and Julie Gonzalez have been selected as the Conference Carolinas male and female scholar athlete-of-the-year in men's volleyball and women's tennis, respectively.

Poole emerged as a first-team all-CC selection in men's volleyball. The junior amassed 317 kills and served a program-record 54 aces as the Trojans advanced to the conference tournament finals.

The Enfield, England native ranked fourth nationally in aces per set, 14th in attacks per set and points per set, and 15th in kills per set. He earned spots on the Conference Carolinas Presidential Honor Roll and Conference Carolinas All-Academic team.

Poole was tabbed Academic All-District by CoSIDA.

A senior, Gonzalez filed an impressive first season on the tennis courts. She garnered first-team all-conference accolades in singles and doubles play, and finished a combined 20-2 overall.

Gonzalez helped power the Trojans' to their first-ever Conference Carolinas tournament championship, which led to their first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.

The scholar athlete-of-the-year award is presented annually to a student-athlete in each sport for recognition of their outstanding performance on the field and in the classroom. Candidates are submitted by each member institution from each of the conference's 20 sponsored sports.

Criteria for the award require that student-athletes much have attended their member school for at least one year, and reached either their junior or senior season with a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 3.25 or higher. Each winner must have received either first-, second- or third-team all-conference recognition in their respective sport.

-- UMO Media Relations