ST. LOUIS - Missouri State men's soccer had the most players make a 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete team, the league announced Wednesday morning.

Seniors Jack Denton, Jesus Barea and Kian Yari were named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team. The trio leads the Bears to have the most Scholar-Athlete first team selections among the nine teams in the conference.

Missouri State also led the conference with three second team selections with sophomores Ollie Bate, Daniel Normann and senior Javier Martin Gil getting MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team nods.

Denton was named to the scholar-athlete first team for the second consecutive year. He was also named as an honorable mention for the 2020-21 season. The midfielder from London, England was also named MVC Midfielder of the Year for the second straight season, becoming the first player in conference history to win the award multiple times. Denton also earned his second straight All-MVC First Team nod, marking his fourth appearance on an All-MVC team in his career. He has a career-high four goals this season, including the first two goals for the Bears this season against No. 14 Maryland and Kansas City. He also scored the equalizer in the MVC title game against Western Michigan. Denton is majoring in Professional Studies (MPS).

Barea earned his first career scholar-athlete award following another back-to-back appearance on the All-MVC First Team. The forward from Cadiz, Spain was last season's MVC Player of the Year and has scored the second-most goals on the team with five. He is also tied for most assists and total points. Barea enters the 2023 NCAA Tournament second in the nation in shot accuracy with 27 of his 44 shots being on goal this season (.614). He is also third in the conference with three game-winning goals. Barea is majoring in Exercise & Movement Science.

Yari rounds out the first team honorees for Missouri State, adding to his already decorated list of academic accolades. This year marks Yari's fourth straight appearance on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team. The midfielder from Manchester, England has been recognized as an Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators each of the last two years before this season. Yari has four assists this season to put him at 22 for his career, a mark good for third all-time in Missouri State history. He is majoring in Professional Studies (MPS).

Bate begins the slate of Bears on the MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team. Making his first appearance on a conference scholar-athlete team, Bate has stepped up in his second season as a Bear, clocking in 354 minutes across 14 games played. The forward from Yorkshire, England scored his first career goal off a steal against Bowling Green in the penultimate game of the regular season. Bate made the 2022-23 MVC Honor Roll and the MSU Athletic Director's Honor Roll in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. He is majoring in Exercise & Movement Science.

Normann is another Bear to get an MVC Scholar-Athlete nod, joining Bate and Evansville's Ola Arntsen as the only sophomores to make the second team. He has played exactly 1,000 minutes across his two seasons at Missouri State, including 673 this season. The midfielder from Husnes, Norway scored his first goal of the season with two seconds left in the first half against Western Michigan in Springfield. He has been on target with seven of his 10 shots this season and over 66% of his shots as a Bear. Normann is majoring in Finance.

Martin Gil also made his first career MVC Scholar-Athlete team following his second straight All-MVC appearance. The defender from Madrid, Spain has started every game for Missouri State each of the last two seasons and is third on the team with 1,445 minutes played this season. Martin Gil scored the game-tying goal against Tulsa in the third game of the season. He also had the game-winning assist in Missouri State's home opener against VCU the following game. The goal and assist in back-to-back games propelled him to win MVC Defensive Player of the Week on September 12. Martin Gil is majoring in Economics.

The Valley's scholar-athlete teams are voted on by the league's soccer sports information directors. 

The criteria for the All-MVC honor parallels the CSC (College Sports Communicators) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the season matches. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.

Missouri State is one of nine teams making its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. It will play in its eighth NCAA Tournament overall with its 10th overall tournament game on Thursday, November 16 when the Bears host the Omaha Mavericks for the second time this season at 6:30 p.m. CT.