GREENWOOD, Ind. - On Wednesday afternoon, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced their At-Large Academic All-American teams for the 2020-21 academic year. Mason Nissley (men's volleyball) was named the Men's At-Large Academic All-American of the Year with a 4.00 cumulative GPA and a National Player of the Year honor. On the women's side, both Rachel Delate (women's lacrosse) and Hope Flack (women's lacrosse) earned honors with Delate named to the Second Team and Flack picking up Third Team honors.
 
Nissley completes a busy awards season, picking up nearly every possible accolade after a historic sophomore campaign for the men's volleyball team. As a finance major, Nissley carries a 4.00 cumulative GPA. In addition to his pristine grade-point-average, Nissley was named the MAC Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year, and National Player of the Year while leading the Falcons to a MAC Championship and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. His sophomore season was one for the record books, setting a new NCAA Division III record for kills per set with 5.69. He finished the season with 370 kills and a .300 hitting percentage.
 
Nissley becomes the second-ever Falcon to earned Academic All-American of the Year honors, joining Courtney Allen (softball) in 2016 with the highest academic honor that CoSIDA hands out for each sport. Since there is a limited number of men's volleyball programs at the Division III level, men's volleyball is included in the At-Large category that encompasses all sports outside of soccer, baseball, track and field/cross country, and baseball.
 
Messiah also picked up a pair of Academic All-American honors on the women's side with Rachel Delate earning Second Team honors and Hope Flack picking up Third Team accolades. Both Delate and Flack were key pieces of the women's lacrosse run to the Elite Eight this spring, helping the Falcons to an 18-1 overall record this year.
 
Delate earns her first Academic All-American nod after a breakout sophomore season. She was named the Attacker and Rookie of the Year in the MAC Commonwealth as well as a First Team All-American after setting a new Messiah women's lacrosse program record with 123 points on 63 goals and 60 assists. In the classroom, Delate holds a 3.74 cumulative GPA as a Finance major.
 
In the midfield, Hope Flack claimed Third Team Academic All-American honors after holding a 3.96 cumulative GPA while pursuing an Education Certification - Grades 4-8. Flack netted 44 goals and added six assists for 50 total points this year. She also picked up 27 ground balls and caused 15 turnovers, but where Flack was ultra-effective was on the draw. On the season, Flack snagged 93 draw controls, more than double any other Falcon this year.
 
Nissley, Delate, and Flack join Leah Springer (women's basketball), Trevor Goodling (men's soccer), and Esther Seeland (women's soccer) as Academic All-Americans for the 2020-21 academic year. The half dozen honors are Messiah's most in a single year since 2016-17 when seven student-athletes were honored by CoSIDA. Messiah now has 57 Academic All-American honors all-time.

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