Six Women’s Soccer Student-Athletes Earn WHAC All-Academic Honors

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DETROIT – The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) office announced the 2015 women’s soccer award teams Tuesday (Nov. 3), highlighting the top performers around the conference as postseason play gets underway for the league. This year, a record six Marygrove College student-athletes were honored as WHAC All-Academic Team members, topping the previous program best of five in 2013 and 2014.

In all, six Mustangs were honored for their work in the classroom and for their leadership on-and-off the playing field as members of the All-Academic Team or Champions of Character Team.

WHAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
A record six student-athletes were named to the heralded WHAC All-Academic Team in Tuesday’s conference release, led by two-time recipients Henrietta Addo (Ghana, West Africa/Henry Ford CC) and Sara Ruch (Oxford, Mich./Oxford High School). Ruch is the lone four-year women’s soccer senior to be honored by the WHAC in a season where the defender also tallied a pair of assists.

Johari Ndaizeye joined Addo and Ruch on the list as academic award winners that were on the women’s soccer team prior to this season, while newcomers Janeesa Jamierson (Battle Creek, Mich./Kellogg CC), Nicole Kempinski (Livonia, Mich./Schoolcraft College) and Kara Kempinski were tabbed with the honor as well.

Former volleyball standouts, the Kempinski twins joined the team midway through the campaign in an effort to help the Mustangs throughout the stretch run. Kara Kempinski was the WHAC’s Libero of the Year in the sport of volleyball in 2013. The WHAC also honored the twins as conference all-academic honorees in 2014 (volleyball).

Jamierson, a former two-year starter on the Mustangs’ women’s basketball team, suffered a season-ending injury during preseason training. No stranger to the conference’s academic team, Jamierson joins Addo, Ruch and the Kempinski twins as two-time winners of the award.

The Mustangs topped four other eligible WHAC institutions with six honorees despite having the fewest student-athletes of any league school.

“I could not be more proud of our team,” said first-year head coach Worteh Sampson. “The women’s soccer program at Marygrove has a history of being an outstanding academically-driven squad. For this year’s team to beat a program record – espectially with our lack of depth – is remarkable. Competing and winning on the field is important, but awards like these [academic] are the ultimate compliment to any college athletic program.”

WHAC CHAMPIONS OF CHARACTER TEAM
Senior midfielder/forward Johari Ndaizeye was selected by Sampson as the Mustangs’ representative on the WHAC’s Champions of Character Team. The nod to the character team caps off a stellar three-year career for Ndaizeye as Sampson acknowledged the senior’s collected demeanor throughout the season.

“This [character award] could have gone to any of our girls,” said the first-year head coach. “We endured a difficult season but our girls handled it with the utmost class, which is something I will never forget. The award is well-deserved for Johari – a presence we could not have played without this year. Her growth on the field and the constant respect given to her teammates and opponents was fun to watch.”

Ndaizeye joins one member from each conference institution on the character team that were recognized for their commitment to the NAIA’s Five Core Values of Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship.

WOMEN’S SOCCER CONTACT: Tim Johnston | [email protected]/* */ | @tjohnston56
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