ANNVILLE, Pa. – On Thursday morning, the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) announced the 2023 Spring MAC Senior Scholar-Athletes. Among the 11 student-athletes honored by the conference were a pair of Messiah Falcons with
Rachel Delate named the women's lacrosse Senior Scholar Athlete and
Mason Nissley named the honoree for men's volleyball.
For every sport the MAC sponsors, one student-athlete is honored for their strong academic and athletic prowess. This distinction is handed out to a singular student-athlete across all MAC institutions, including all of the MAC Commonwealth and MAC Freedom schools.
Messiah has been honored with 76 total Senior Scholar-Athletes by the MAC with 32 men and 44 women celebrated. The Falcons' 76 honors are more than double any other school in conference history, with Lebanon Valley sitting in second place with 34 honors.
Delate and Nissley join
Jake Lent-Koop (men's soccer) and Logan Horst (men's cross country) as the four Falcons honored during the 2022-23 academic year as MAC Senior Scholar Athletes. In total, Messiah's four honors were the most of any singular institution this year. DeSales, Misericordia, Stevens, and York were the only other institutions with more than two individuals honored, earning three this year.
Rachel Delate - Women's Lacrosse
Rachel Delate (Glen Mills, Pa.) is a two-time all-American, earning IWLCA first team honors in 2021 and third team honors in 2022. She was named to the USA Lacrosse All-American First Team in 2022. Delate is a two-time All-MAC Commonwealth First Team honoree, and she was named the 2021 MAC Commonwealth Attacker and Rookie of the Year. Delate led the Falcons to the 2021 conference title and was named the championship MVP.
Delate is majoring in finance with an expected graduation date in the spring of 2023. She currently holds a 3.66 GPA. Delate was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-American (At-Large) Second Team in 2021. She is a two-time Academic All-MAC selection.
Mason Nissley - Men's Volleyball
Mason Nissley (Manheim, Pa.) is a three-time All-MAC First Team honoree and a two-time MAC Player of the Year (2021, 2023). Nissley is a three-time AVCA First Team All-American and was named the 2021 AVCA National Player of the Year. Nissley led the Falcons to three-straight MAC title matches, including the conference title in 2021.
Nissley is majoring in finance with an expected graduation date in the spring of 2023. He currently holds a 3.98 GPA. Nissley was named the 2021 CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-American of the Year. He is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team selection. Nissley is a three-time Academic All-MAC selection.
