CoSIDA Release
 
AUSTIN, Texas – Michael Creek and Kyle Hiebert of the Missouri State men's soccer team were named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American First Team, the organization announced on Thursday (Dec. 5).
 
Missouri State is the only team to have multiple players on the 11-man first-team ballot.  To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games at the position listed on the nomination form.
 
As the first MSU men's soccer player to earn three CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, Hiebert lands on the first team in back-to-back seasons after third-team laurels in 2017.  For Creek, it becomes his second Academic All-American selection, adding to his third-team distinction from 2018.
 
Hiebert, who completed his undergraduate degree in May with a 4.0 GPA and is currently pursuing a master's degree in Accounting, was named the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year to go along with his third-straight Valley scholar-athlete first team nod.  He was also the MVC Elite 17 Award honoree for men's soccer.
 
The MVC Defensive Player of the Year, Hiebert started all 20 matches this season for the Missouri State backline that was one of the top defenses in the nation with a 0.632 goals against average.  He also chipped in four points for the Bears' attack with a goal and two assists.  The redshirt junior earned All-MVC first team honors for an MSU team that allowed just nine goals in its perfect 10-0 conference record.      
 
Carrying a 3.97 GPA as an Entrepreneurship major, Creek receives another postseason academic honor after being selected to the MVC Scholar-Athlete first team for the second-straight year.  The junior from St. Louis started every match in goal this season for the Bears.  He was tabbed the Valley's Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the conference with a 0.645 goals against average and a 0.787 save percentage.  Creek posted seven clean sheets in the 2019 campaign to give him 13 career shutouts which ties him for fifth on MSU's all-time list. 
 
Missouri State finished the season with a program-best 18-1-1 record and won its first-ever NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament match.  The Bears, who posted their first 16-0 regular-season mark, claimed the club's eighth MVC regular-season championship.