Benedictine's Vizza has been named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District 5 first team. (Photo courtesy of Benedictine University)

Benedictine University women's soccer player receives academic honor
LISLE, Ill. -- Benedictine University junior women's soccer player Kiera Vizza (Evergreen Park, Ill./Queen of Peace H.S.) has been named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District 5 first team for college division women's soccer. The list - selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) - is comprised of student-athletes from NCAA Division II, Division III and NAIA schools in the states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, as well as Ontario and Manitoba, Canada.

As a first team selection, Vizza becomes one of the 88 finalists, from a total of eight districts nationwide, to be considered for the Academic All-American team. The ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American program is widely considered the foremost program to recognize academic achievement by student-athletes. Nominating criteria is a combination of academic success and on-field accomplishments, as well as campus/community service.

In addition to being a top academic student among Eagles' athletes, Vizza is also her team's representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She does volunteer work for the "Relay for Life" and the American Cancer Society, as well as for her church.

Vizza, a midfielder, recently completed her third season as a member of the BU women's soccer program and was the team's leading scorer in 2006, after playing goalkeeper for much of her sophomore season. This year, she tallied 19 points, booking nine goals and one assist. She started all 20 matches for the Eagles.

Among Benedictine's seven victories, Vizza scored the match-winning goal in three of the contests. Of her 28 shots attempted on the year, 21 were directly on goal (a .750 shot-on-goal percentage).

Courtesy of Benedictine University, Sports Information Department, November 4, 2006.