The UMass Lowell women's volleyball and ice hockey teams each received the Bob Griffin Academic Award for the highest female and male team grade point averages Tuesday night at the UMass Lowell Athletic Excellence Awards Night at Costello Athletic Center.

The women's volleyball team compiled a team GPA of 3.199 and earned the honor for the third time in seven years while the ice hockey team won the honor for the fifth consecutive year with a 2.97 average on a 4.0 scale.

Among other awards for athletic, academic, leadership and community service accomplishments, UMass Lowell also honored its Student-Athletes of the Year for each varsity sport at the banquet (listed below).

The women's volleyball team posted an 13-11 overall record (8-7 in the Northeast-10 Conference) in which it placed eighth in the NE-10 and went on to stun No. 1-seed New Haven in the first round of the NE-10 playoffs before bowing out to Saint Rose in the semifinals.

“I am honored and really pleased that we're back at the top,” said head coach Karen McNulty. “The Griffin Cup is always very competitive with the other teams. We've really had some outstanding efforts with our student-athletes and their studies. We've worked pretty hard and been diligent the past couple of years and it's paid off.”

The women's track and field team was the runner-up with a collective 3.184 while the women's cross country team compiled a 3.178.

Led by first year head coach, Norm Bazin the River Hawks surpassed all expectations with a 24-13-1 record and a 17-9-1 record in Hockey East (second place). That included a trip to the NCAA Tournament where they upset No. 2 seed Miami of Ohio, 4-3, in overtime before falling 4-2 to Union.

"Academics are very important to our team,” said Bazin. “We are proud to be recipients of the Griffin Award again this year."

The ice hockey team beat out the golf team which has a 2.957 average while the men's cross country team came in with a 2.840.
 
 
UMass Lowell's Student-Athletes of the Year
 
Sport                               Student-Athlete (Yr., Hometown)                               Field of Study
Baseball                          Matt Jacobs (Hudson, Mass)               3.31, Business Administration
Men's Basketball              Robbie Walton (South Boston, Mass.)              2.88, Criminal Justice
Women's Basketball         Bianca Simmons (Middletown, Conn.)                     3.38, Liberal Arts
Men's Cross Country        Matt Cioe (Mansfield, Mass.)                       3.67, Plastic Engineering
Women's Cross Country   Kelly Walton (Nahant, Mass.)                          3.53, Civil Engineering
Field Hockey                    Vanessa Kent (Charlton, Mass.)           3.36, Business Administration
Golf                                 Andrew Fecteau (Newbury, Mass.)                                3.18, Biology
Ice Hockey                       Chad Ruhwedel (San Diego, Calif.)                             3.74, Business
Rowing                            Amanda Murray (West Newbury, Mass.)        3.91, Work Environment
Men's Soccer                   Matheus Candido (Lowell, Mass.)  3.19, Criminal Justice, Psychology
Women's Soccer              Hannah Merullo (Wakefield, Mass.)                   3.92, Criminal Justice
Softball                           Elyssa Boris (Gardner, Mass.)                   3.41, Exercise Physiology
Men's Track & Field          Angus MacDonald (Methuen, Mass.)                     3.78, Mathematics
Women's Track & Field     Ashley Zielinski (Manchester, N.H.)            3.24, Exercise Physiology
Volleyball                         Kristina Wiltjer (Temecula, Calif.)                             3.07, Liberal Arts
 
 
www.goriverhawks.com ? soaring with pride