Great Danes Earn Academic, Athletic Accolades
ALBANY, N.Y. (May 23, 2023) — As the spring sports season winds down, UAlbany student-athletes are earning honors on the field and in the classroom.
Softball
Five Great Danes from the UAlbany softball team were named CSC Academic All-District for the 2022-23 season. The team, selected by members of College Sports Communicators (CSC) (formerly known as CoSIDA), recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
Graduate student Chloe Lewis, senior Caitlyn Mitros, redshirt-sophomore Kate Powers, sophomore Sierra Fretz, and sophomore Caitlyn Frederick have been named to the team.
After graduating in three years with a 3.83 GPA and a degree in business and concentrations in management and finance, Lewis currently holds a 3.93 GPA in her MBA program. A pitcher, Lewis has previously been named to the America East Academic Honor Roll.
Holding a 3.92 GPA, Mitros, an outfielder, recently finished her degree in psychology with minors in education studies and sociology.
One of the Great Danes' two starting pitchers, Powers is studying for her degree in biology and she currently holds a 3.89 GPA.
A two-time America East All-Conference honoree, Fretz, a utility player, holds a 3.6 GPA. She is working toward a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology.
Frederick, a left-handed outfielder, is studying human biology and currently owns a 3.53 GPA.
The softball team lost in the America East Championship game to close out the 2023 season as runners-up.
Women’s Golf
Four Great Danes were named to the 2022-23 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Women's Golf All-Academic Team.
Juniors Mariel Tee, Katelin Richards and Maddie Campos, as well as sophomore Claudia Blöchliger earned All-Academic status. To be eligible, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 on a 4.0 scale.
Blöchliger led the team with a 4.00 GPA, majoring in business administration. Campos, a junior majoring in human biology, posted a 3.51 GPA to follow. Tee earned a 3.48 GPA in environmental science while Richards rounded out the team with a 3.31 in business administration.
The golf team finished in the runner-up position at the 2023 MAAC Championship.
Women’s Lacrosse
For the second-straight season, UAlbany midfielder Katie Pascale has earned Honorable Mention All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse. Pascale was the only representative from the America East to make the list.
Pascale, a junior accounting major from Baldwinsville, N.Y., led UAlbany in scoring for the third-straight season, accumulating a total of 92 points behind 49 goals and 43 assists. Pascale set the program's Division I era single-game points record, scoring 12 in the America East semifinal round against New Hampshire, a total which also set the single-game record for an America East Tournament game.
The women’s lacrosse team followed up its victory in the America East Championship game with a first-round victory over Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. The Great Danes lost a close 8-6 battle to undefeated Denver in the second round, which later advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in program history.
Men’s Lacrosse
Senior midfielder Jake Piseno has been named All-America Honorable Mention selection from Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine. Piseno is UAlbany's first men's lacrosse player to earn All-America accolades since 2018.
Piseno, a long-stick midfielder from Liverpool, N.Y. who majored in criminal justice, ranked second nationally in 2023 with 3.13 caused turnovers per game for a total of 50 on the season in 16 games. The 50 caused turnovers are the most in a single-season in the program's Division I history, and his 94 career caused turnovers are also the highest in Division I era program history.
Piseno was also named America East Defensive Player of the Year in May.