Kingsport, TN – After a strong regular season, where they compiled an 10-3 record, the Cumberlands men's lacrosse team had five players earn AAC All-Conference honors, it was announced Friday night.  Nick Kava, Ty Grooms, Taylor Long and Gabe Schwaiger garnered First Team accolades, while Maalek Wilson was a Second Team All-Conference selection.

Kava earns First Team honors for the second straight season after a strong senior campaign.  The Hoschton, GA native tallied 31 goals, 23 assists, and a team leading 54 points on the season to go along with 19 ground balls.  Kava has tallied multiple points in every game this season and netted at least three goals seven times.  The senior is coming off breaking then program record for points in a game when he notched 12 points in UC's AAC Quarterfinal win over (RV) SCAD.  The senior has tallied three game-winning goals on the year and is ranked fourth in the AAC for points well.  Kava has recorded 132 goals and 47 assists throughout his Patriot career. 

Grooms earned First Team All-Conference honors as a defensive midfielder after scooping 33 ground balls to go along with eight caused turnovers.  The sophomore scooped multiple ground balls in six games,  including tallying a season-high six ground balls in back-to-back wins over Point and Thomas More.  He also notched a season-best three caused turnovers in the win over Tennessee Wesleyan.  Grooms is part of the Patriots defense that ranks second in the conference for ground balls.

Earning All-Conference honors for the third consecutive season, Long is the AAC First Team Long Stick Midfielder.  The senior has scooped a career-high 50 ground balls to go along with a team-best 23 caused turnovers this season.  Long notched multiple caused turnovers in seven games, including four caused turnovers and eight ground balls in UC's win over Tennessee Wesleyan.  He also scooped seven ground balls in consecutive games against Life and Montreat.  Long has been instrumental in Cumberlands posting an 89.7% clear rate, which ranks third in the NAIA this season.

Schwaiger garners AAC First Team All-Conference defender honors for the second straight season.  The West Bloomfield, MI native has notched 20 caused turnovers and 38 ground ball on the year.  Schwaiger notched a season-high six caused turnovers and four ground balls in the win over Montreat, while adding four caused turnovers against the Bulldogs.  He also scooped multiple ground balls in all 12 games he played in.  Schwaiger has been pivotal for the Patriots defense that limited  opponents to 8.28 goals per game this season.

Wilson garners AAC Second Team accolades after an incredible senior campaign.  Grayslake, IL native leads the AAC with 26 assists and ranks sixth in the conference with 52 points this season.  Wilson broke UC's single game assist record dishing out seven assists in the Patriots win over Montreat.  He notched nine multi-goal games this season, including four goals in the win at Madonna.  Wilson tallied seven points in the AAC quarterfinal win over SCAD, while he notched five points in a pair of games.  The senior scooped 19 ground balls and tallied a pair of game-winning goals on the year.

In addition to the All-Conference selections, the Patriots had 10 players named to the AAC All-Academic Team.  Evan Barton, Ashton Clayburn, JD Cook, Nathan Foskey, Owen Hebenstreit, Austin Hering, Jacob Ingle, Dom Lulow, Dennis Smith, and Johnathon Vanover garnered this honor for UC this season.  In order to be eligible, each student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a minimum  GPA of 3.25.
 
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