Austin, TX – After helping the Patriots capture their first NAIA national championship in school history, junior center back Rita Aguye Cots has been named a College Sports Communicators (CSC) First Team Academic All-America, it was announced my national officials on Wednesday.  It marks the second consecutive year the Ametlla del Valles, Spain native earned this distinction.

Aguye Cots was one of three Patriots players to start all 22 matches this season and had a stellar season.  She helped anchor the Cumberlands defense that recorded 10 shutouts on the year, while limiting opponents to just 10.0 shots per game.  Offensively, the junior had her most productive season as a Patriot tallying three goals, two assists, and eight points.  She netted the game winning goal in Cumberlands 2-0 win over #2 Spring Arbor as she headed in a goal in the 31' to put UC in front 1-0 in the NAIA semifinals.  That was her second game-winning goal of the year as she also notched the game-winning goal in UC's 5-2 over Campbellsville in the MSC opener. 

The junior aided Cumberlands in tallying their second straight unbeaten regular season, while posting a 5-0-1 mark in conference play to capture the Mid-South Conference regular season championships for the second straight year.  The Patriots strong season helped them earn the third-seed in the NAIA National Tournament as UC hosted the NAIA Opening Round for the third time in the last four years. UC defeated UNOH 2-0 in the second round of the tournament to advance to the NAIA Final Site for the fourth straight year. 

Aguye Cots was a critical part of the Patriots backline that recorded four straight clean sheets during the NAIA Tournament as UC posted 2-0 wins over OUAZ, Hope International, and Spring Arbor to advance to the championship game for the first time in program history.  The junior notched an assist in the quarterfinals win over Hope International.  In the championship game, Aguye Cots was part of the Patriots defense that fended off 37 shots to force a penalty kick shoot-out, which Cumberlands won 3-2 to capture their first red banner in school history.

Aguye Cots efforts on the year helped her be named a MSC First Team All-Conference selection, while she was also named to the NAIA All-Tournament Team.  Twice this season she was voted the MSC Defensive Player of the Week, an award that she has won four times over her career.   Aguye Cots is a two-time MSC First Team All-Conference selection and a two-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete.

Aguye Cots becomes the second Patriot in program history to earn CSC First Team All-America honors multiple times, joining Cumberlands great Laura Navajas Marin, who earned it in both 2020 and 2021.

To be eligible for this award a student-athlete must be a sophomore or higher with a minimum GPA of 3.50.  They also have played in at least 90% of its team's games as well as be a contributor on the field. There are 22 student-athletes on the Academic All-America list with 12 on First Team and 10 Second Team.
 
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