Prots named fall conference Scholar Athlete of the Year

GREENVILLE, S.C. – University of Mount Olive sophomore Morgan Prots was selected as the women’s volleyball fall Conference Carolinas Scholar-Athlete of the Year Presented by Hudl on Dec. 15 as announced by the league office.

The Scholar-Athlete awards are awarded annually to one individual in each Conference Carolinas sponsored sport. The Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners are chosen by the Conference Carolinas Student-Athlete Affairs and Awards Committee. To be considered, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 or higher. In addition, the nominees for the award must have been named all-conference in their sport and also chosen academic all-conference.

Prots ranked sixth in the Southeast Region with 528 digs, while also sitting seventh with 4.98 digs per set this season. She earned first-team all-conference honors and assisted the program to a share of the conference regular season title behind its first 20-win season since 2005. Prots also eclipsed 1,000 career digs this year after tallying at least 20 digs in 12 matches. She currently sits seventh all-time in program history with 1,260 career digs.

A product of Union Pines, Prots boasts a 4.0 GPA while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She is just the fourth recipient of the accolade in her sport and the first-ever from Mount Olive to receive the honor in women’s volleyball. Prots also was recently named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.

In addition to Prots, other fall winners were men’s cross country, Joshua Chepkesir, UNC Pembroke; women’s cross country, Deanna Betzer, Lees-McRae; men’s soccer, Alvaro Zamora, Francis Marion and women’s soccer, Anna Grossheim, UNC Pembroke.

— From University of Mount Olive Athletics