The Missouri State women's soccer squad placed three student-athletes on the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team first team for the second-straight year. Kate Hercules, Kate Blair and Chelsea Anderson were honored for their stellar performances on the field and in the classroom.

Senior defensive star Hercules has been named to the scholar-athlete first team for three consecutive years. She started all 21 matches for the Bears this season and tallied 11 points on four goals, including two game winners, and three assists. The 2005 MVC Defensive Player of the Year has a 3.71 GPA in actuarial mathematics. Hercules was also named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VII second team.

Anderson earns her second straight first team honor with a 3.63 grade-point average in psychology. Anderson had eight points on the season with three goals and two assists.

Junior Blair also earns her second consecutive first team honor. The St. Louis, Mo., native started all 21 matches for Missouri State and had 11 points on four goals, including two game winners, and three assists. Blair boasts a 3.95 GPA in marketing management. She was also named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District VII first team for the second straight year.

A total of 52 student-athletes were nominated for the Valley’s scholar-athlete team. The criteria for the honor parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.00 cumulative gpa (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular season matches. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.