Decatur, AL – After another strong season for the Patriots men's lacrosse team, UC's defensive midfielder Ty Grooms garners NAIA First Team All-American honors, it was announced Sunday night at the NAIA Student-Athletes Experience. Grooms becomes the eighth Patriot with multiple NAIA First Team All-American honors.
 
The Waterville, OH native has been a pivotal part of the Patriots defense from his defensive midfielder position tallying a career-high 60 ground balls to go along with seven caused turnovers, and five points.  Grooms opened the season scooping a career-high 12 ground balls in the win at Tennessee Wesleyan, which earned him AAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.  The senior went 14-22 on faceoffs with 11 ground balls in the win over Montreat.  Grooms has also been a key part of the Patriots clear, which is second in the NAIA at 87.3% clear rate.

Grooms has put together a stellar career for UC scooping 163 career ground balls to go along with 20 caused turnovers and a 48.1% faceoff win percentage.  He is sixth in program history with 156 career faceoff wins to go along with 12 points.

The Patriots have earned the eighth-seed in the NAIA Tournament and will face top-seed Madonna in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 12^th at 11 a.m.  Fans can watch the game here.
 
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