Three Soccer Standouts Earn Academic All-America Honors
December 10, 2021 | Men's Soccer
AUSTIN, Texas – Missouri State men's soccer standouts Kyle Hiebert, Michael Creek and Kian Yari were announced today to the Division I Men's Soccer Academic All-America® team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
In addition to his first-team selection, Hiebert was chosen as the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for the second-straight year. He becomes the first student-athlete in any sport to accomplish that feat as well as the first ever five-time CoSIDA Academic All-American honoree.
The senior defender became the first player to win three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year awards for his efforts on the field during the 2021 season. He also earned his third-straight MVC Scholar Athlete of the Year honor for his efforts in the classroom. Earlier this week, Hiebert became a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy award for the second-straight year, was named a first-team Senior CLASS Award All-American and earned All-American status from the United Soccer Coaches Association. The La Salle, Manitoba, native owns a 3.92 GPA in his graduate course work in Accounting and Data Analytics after earning a 4.0 as an undergraduate degree.
Joining him on the first team is fellow senior and Bears' goalkeeper Michael Creek. The St. Louis, Mo., native is one of 13 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans to repeat on the first team while the honor becomes his fourth overall in his time at Missouri State. He helped the Bears to eight of their shutouts and individually was fourth in the nation in goals against average at 0.618. Creek is receiving his Master's degree in Business Administration and holds a 3.88 GPA for his academic efforts at Missouri State.
Yari earns his first CoSIDA Academic All-American distinction after a standout season as part of the Bears midfield. He started 17 games for MSU, and his decisive minutes resulted in Yari being named Missouri State's first-ever MVC Midfielder of the Year award. He led the team with eight assists this season and added two goals of his own. The native of Manchester, England is majoring in Economics and holds a 3.88 GPA, good for a third-team nod. Yari is one of four of the list of 33 men's soccer team members to be a junior in academic standing.
Their efforts helped boost the team to its third-straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, second-straight tournament championship and third-straight NCAA appearance. Missouri State finished the season with an overall record of 17-2, going undefeated in MVC play.
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