December 8, 2023
Asbury Fall Sports Highlighted in NCCAA Awards
GREENVILLE, SC.--- Over 25 Asbury Athletics fall student-athletes were highlighted by the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) for their performance on the field and in the classroom during their 2023 seasons. The awards from the NCCAA include Scholar-Athletes (juniors, seniors, and graduate students with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.40), All-Regional Teams, All-Tournament Teams, and All-Americans. Among the fall sports, Asbury had four teams make national appearances. Men's golf, men's and women's cross country, and men's soccer all saw the national stage in their 2023 campaign.
Women's Soccer
Five Asbury women's soccer members were honored as NCCAA Scholar-Athletes for their strong performance in the classroom. Among those honored were Caroline Absher, Madie Boehnlein, Maliya Crump, Isabelle Peterson, and Audrey Van Lieu.
Caroline Absher, Deidra Long, Reese Bolton, and Audrey Van Lieu were named to the NCCAA Mideast All-Regional team for their play on the pitch this year. Absher, Long, and Bolton each grabbed two goals on the year, with Absher leading the team with four assists. Van Lieu led Asbury in minutes played (1345) with 14 starts in her senior season as one of the key members all year of the AU defense, assisting to four clean sheets.
Men's Soccer
The NCCAA highlighted eight Asbury men's soccer members, the highest of AU's fall sports, as Scholar-Athletes including Nick Clark, Austin Dunlap, Nick Eller, Oliver Gunthorpe, Gavin Howard, Brenden Krebs, Andrew Nelson, and Alexis Petatan.
Six Eagles were named to the NCCAA Mideast All-Regional team including Austin Dunlap, Luke Thomas, Jason Flaming, Yousef Ismail, Nick Clark, and Peyton French. Dunlap led the team with a career-high of seven goals on the year. Thomas and Flaming followed closely with six goals of their own and a combined seven assists.
Clark led AU in assists for the second straight season with seven. Ismail stood firm in the back-line of the Asbury defense all year, second on the team in minutes played (1509) including five points with two goals and an assist. Freshman Peyton French finished the 2023 season with a 7-3-2 record with 40 saves and only 16 goals allowed.
The men's soccer team also made their first national appearance for the NCCAA in their 2023 season. Junior Alexis Petatan was named to the NCCAA All-Tournament team for his play at the national stage.
Men's Golf
The Asbury men's golf team had an impressive season, grabbing five top-10 finishes in their 2023 season. AU men's golf also returned to the NCCAA National Tournament for the third year in a row.
The team placed 8th overall with João Costa placing 11th individually. In one of his best performances of the season, Costa shot eight under in The Players Club Invitational in Yorktown, In.
Volleyball
Asbury volleyball was highlighted by the NCCAA as senior Brynna Reynolds received the NCCAA Scholar-Athlete honor.
AU volleyball also held multiple different accolades in the NCCAA throughout their season, with most notably Lucy Kate Gray finishing 9th in the NCCAA with 736 assists, averaging 8.46 per set. Gray also joined the 1,000 assists club in her 2023 campaign and sits at 1,265 so far in her two years of play at AU.
Under second-year Head Coach Tiffany Horton, Asbury volleyball doubled their wins from the previous year and finished the season 10-15, picking up four sweeps and two reverse sweeps.
Men's Cross Country
Asbury men's cross country had three runners honored as NCCAA Scholar-Athletes including Tyler Chong, Luke Holton, and Luke Wheatley.
The men's cross country team had multiple records set throughout the season and grabbed a first-place finish in AU's hosted Spoon's Fiercly Faith Meet. The men's team made another appearance at the national tournament and finished sixth overall.
Women's Cross Country
Asbury women's cross country received four NCCAA Scholar-Athlete honors including Della Nevitt, Katherine Stanley, Elise Terpstra, and Sarah Yost.
Freshman Bailey Gassmann had an outstanding year, leading the women's team to multiple victories and another spot at the national tournament. Gassmann finished runner-up in the 5k out of 55 runners at the national stage, making her an NCCAA All-American. The women's team placed third overall out of 10 teams at the NCCAA National Tournament.
"We are very proud of the good work done by our fall sport student-athletes both in competition and in the classroom. Asbury is grateful to be a part of the National Christian College Athletic Association and the championship experiences it provides our students and coaches."
Mark Whitworth | Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and Strategic Communications
* Make sure to follow us @asburyeagles on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
* Watch our all TeamAU home games live at Asbury Sports Digital Network
* Use the links attached to the team schedules to watch live or follow live stats
