(Lock Haven, Pa.): Clarion University senior free safety Shawn Sopic (Curwensville) and senior women's volleyball standout Rhianon Brady (Canal Winchester, Ohio) were named today to receive the PSAC's prestigious “Academic Top 10” award for the Fall of 2011.
 
            The PSAC Top 10 Award, selected by the PSAC's Sports Information Directors, recognize student-athletes who excel in both the classroom and in competition. Five male and five female athletes are chosen in the Fall, Winter and Spring sports seasons to receive the Top 10 Award. Student athletes must have a year residency at an institution and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher to be nominated for this award.
 
            Sopic, a 6'3”, 210-pound senior, free safety from Curwensville, Pa.,  was recently named a First Team 2011 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-American, by the Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
           
            Shawn is the son of Steve Sopic and Barb and Randy Hutton, and graduated in December with a 3.919 cumulative GPA and majored in Chemistry.
 
            A 2011 team captain, Sopic was a four-year starter on Clarion's defense at free safety and had an outstanding career. In 2011 he finished the year second on the team with 64 tackles, plus had 2 tfl's, 2 fumbles caused 2 break-ups and 1 interception.
 
            Shawn missed the 2010 season with a knee injury, but had a tremendous 2009 campaign helping the Golden Eagles to an 8-3 overall record, a 6-1 mark in the PSAC-West and an 8^th ranking in the NCAA Division II Super Region 1's final ranking of the year, narrowly missing the NCAA Playoffs. Sopic collected 56 hits, 7 break-ups and 2 tfl's. He also totaled 65 tackles, 5 break-ups, 3 int's and 2 tfl's in 2008 and 44 stops, 2 break-ups and 1 interception in 2007.
 
            In his career Sopic finished with 229 tackles, 16 break-ups, 5 interceptions, 7 tfl's, 3 fumbles caused and 2 fumbles recovered.
 
            Brady, a 5'6”, senior, Libero from Canal Winchester, Ohio, was recently named a Second Team 2011 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-American in Women's Volleyball by CoSIDA. She was just the fourth women's volleyball player to be named an Academic All-American joining Kristi Fiorillo (third team in 2007), Tracy Barnett (third team in 1998) and Barbara Buck (second team in both 1986 and 1988).
 
            Brady, who is the daughter of Kent and Julie Brady of Canal Winchester, Ohio, is a secondary education/biology major who has a 3.936 GPA.
  
            A four-year starter at Libero, Brady is a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District performer and the first player in school history to earn All-Region awards in each of her four seasons.
 
            In 2011 Brady was voted the inaugural PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, a second-team PSAC West selection, an AVCA  All-Atlantic Region choice and a Daktronics first-team All-Atlantic Region player. She was also a first-team Daktronics All-Region in 2010 and 2009 and a second-team Daktronics All-Region selection in 2008 while earning AVCA All-Region honors in 2009 and 2010 as well.

            The Clarion record holder in digs with 2,662, she holds three of the top five single-season dig marks in Clarion history including a school-record 798 in 2010 which broke her own school record of 729 set in 2009. Her 648 digs this season ranks fifth all-time at Clarion, and she led the PSAC and ranked 13^th in the nation in digs per set this year with 5.81. In 2010, she was second in the PSAC and sixth in the nation at 6.33 digs per set while she was third in the PSAC and 13^th in the country in digs per set in 2009 (5.52) and second in the PSAC as a freshman in 2008 (4.64).
 
            Brady played a key role in helping Clarion reach new heights as a program including three NCAA Division II playoff appearances, which included a berth in the 2010 Elite Eight, a PSAC Championship, a PSAC West Championship and three PSAC semifinal appearances. The 2010 Golden Eagles won a school record 32 matches (32-5), the PSAC West, PSAC and NCAA D-II Atlantic Region titles and went to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. This season, Clarion was 19-13 including 14-5 in the PSAC West and advanced to the PSAC Semifinals and the NCAA Tournament. In 2009, the Golden Eagles went 26-10 overall, 15-4 PSAC West and qualified for the NCAA Tournament while also reaching the PSAC Semifinals. In her four years, Brady was part of 93 Clarion victories.


            This is the 15th year of the PSAC Academic Top 10 Award (started in 1997-98).
 
CLARION NOTES:  Clarion now has 41 recipients of the SPAC Academic top 10 Award since its inception in 1997 … That's the second most awards among the current 16 PSAC member schools…
 
Fall Top 10 Awardees were – Devin Goda (SR), Stephen Schelander (Shipp), Bryce Shaffer (Bloom), Ian Wild (Mercyhurst), Alyssa Barrett (SR), Rose Mascoli (East Stroudsburg), Danielle Ostendorf (IUP), Neely Spence (Shippensburg), and Clarion's Sopic and Brady…..
 
Sopic was only the fifth Clarion University athlete to be named as a First Team Academic All-American  by CoSIDA since its inception in 1971. The others were men's swimmer Enrique Conterno (1987), running back Steve Witte (1996), diver Jamie Wolf (2007) and safety Nick Sipes (2011). Sipes and Sopic were teammates at nearby Curwensville High School and were recruited to Clarion after graduating from Curwensville in the Spring of 2007…