2018 IWLCA/ZAG SPORTS DIVISION III ACADEMIC HONOR SQUADS
2018 IWLCA/ZAG SPORTS DIVISION III ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the fourth time in its five-season history, the Augsburg University women's lacrosse team has earned Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association/Zag Sports Division III Academic Honor Squad honors, with Auggies Christina Nelson (JR, Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS) and Hannah Valen (SO, Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna HS) earning individual IWLCA/Zag Sports Division III Academic Honor Roll honors, it was announced on Monday.

To receive the team honor, women's lacrosse squads must maintain a 3.0 or higher team grade-point average for the 2017-18 academic year. A total of 339 women's lacrosse teams across all three NCAA divisions and the NAIA earned the team academic award. This year's Augsburg squad claimed a 3.21 cumulative team GPA. Augsburg has earned the academic honor in four of its five seasons as a varsity program -- 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018.

For individual Academic Honor Roll honors, student-athletes must be a junior, senior or graduate student with a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or better. Nelson is a communications major with a 3.6227 GPA, while Valen, a junior academically (sophomore athletically), is an exercise science major with a 4.0000 GPA. Both also earned Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference All-Academic honors this spring.

An All-MWLC first-team selection all three years of her career and IWLCA Division III All-Great Lakes Region second-team defender this season, Nelson is considered one of the best defenders in the region. As the team's primary draw-control specialist, she finished the 2018 campaign with an MWLC-leading and single-season school-record 111 draw controls. She also had team-best totals of 42 caused turnovers and 49 ground balls, while also scoring six goals on 16 shots. Her 42 caused turnovers were tied for fifth-most in the MWLC. Nelson was also the leader of a defense that ranked fourth in the NCAA Division III national statistics in caused turnovers per-game (16.67). In 54 games over three seasons, Nelson now has 21 goals and two assists for 23 points. Her 129 caused turnovers and 157 draw controls are second-most in school history, while her 144 ground balls are third-most.

An All-MWLC Sportsmanship Team selection in 2018, Valen played in 13 games, starting five, this season, with five ground balls and two caused turnovers. In 27 career games, she has eight ground balls, four caused turnovers, two draw controls and an assist.

Under fifth-year coach Kathryn Knippenberg, Augsburg finished 13-5 overall and 10-1 in MWLC play in 2018, setting new marks for wins in both overall and conference play. The Auggies qualified for the MWLC postseason playoffs for the third straight year since joining the conference, reaching the playoff title game this season. In Augsburg's five years of women's lacrosse, the Auggies are 49-31 overall, including a 24-7 record in its three seasons of MWLC play.