Maplewood, N.J. – Seton Hall Athletics honored its 60 senior student-athletes on Tuesday night at the eighth-annual Pirate Blue Senior Awards Banquet held at Maplewood Country Club.
The cumulative GPA for all student-athletes currently stands at a 3.426, an all-time high for the department. An incredible 87 percent, 52-of-60 seniors, were honored with the Academic Merit Award, given to those with a 3.2 or higher cumulative GPA after the fall 2018 semester.
Following the fall 2018 semester, 57 percent of all student-athletes earned Dean's List honors, having earned at least a 3.4 GPA. Last academic year, 81 percent of student-athletes earned BIG EAST All-Academic recognition, and based on their performance in the fall, the department has every indication that this year will bring a similar outcome.
Tuesday's banquet also paid tribute to this year's Senior Most Valuable Pirate, Taylor Cutcliff of women's soccer. Cutcliff was a senior captain this past fall, and started all 16 games. She made 43 career appearances including 28 starts over her four years at The Hall. She was named to the Dean's List every semester and earned BIG EAST All-Academic honors all four years. In addition to being the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Cutcliff was also the president of Seton Hall's chapter of Habitat for Humanity and Pirate-THON. She was the 2019 recipient of the Mother Seton Award for Presidential Leadership, and will begin her professional career in June as a branch analyst for Morgan Stanley.
Cutcliff also earned the Seton Hall Senior Scholar-Athlete Award, along with Peyton Elder, who was a four-year member of the men's soccer team. In the classroom, Elder was named to the Dean's List every semester, and earned All-BIG EAST Academic honors all four years. He leaves Seton Hall with a degree in environmental studies/sustainable supply chain, and earned certificates in supply chain management and information technology management. This past December, he graduated summa cum laude. Elder is currently an operations planner with L'Oreal USA.
Earlier this spring, the BIG EAST Conference announced the winners of the Institutional Male and Female Scholar-Athlete awards, with men's soccer defender David Arvidsson and volleyball setter Sophia Coffey receiving the prestigious honor for Seton Hall. Both Arvidsson and Coffey will receive scholarships of $2,000 to be applied towards graduate or professional studies. Both were recognized on Tuesday night.
Arvidsson will receive a master's degree in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall. Prior to transferring for his final season of eligibility this season he earned a degree in International Business from LIU Post, where he recorded a 3.4 GPA. At Seton Hall he is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Diplomacy & International Relations and a member of the executive board for the International Affairs Graduate Diplomacy Council. This year he was inducted into Sigma Iota Rho, the National Honor Society for International Relations
While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Arvidsson completed an internship with a sub-organization of the United Nations and hopes to one day start a career at the UN. On the pitch, Arvidsson started every game during BIG EAST play this season and was an All-BIG EAST Second Team selection. During his time at LIU Post, he was a two-time Division II All-America pick.
Coffey will be graduating with a bachelor's degree in Business Marketing with a minor in Graphic Design and Advertising. She holds a 3.62 GPA and has already been accepted to a trio of law schools on the west coast, with a plan to practice environmental law. Coffey is on track to be a seven-time Dean's List member and a four-time BIG EAST Academic All Star. She was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National College Athlete Honor Society, in 2018.
On the court, Coffey finished her career this fall by eclipsing the 1,000 career dig mark and moving into the top-five in SHU history in assists. She is an active volunteer in several community endeavors around Seton Hall, including Reading with the Pirates and the One Love Foundation.
Men's basketball forward Michael Nzei was also recognized for his incredible career in South Orange. Nzei will graduate with a 3.64 GPA with a master's degree in business administration, and will begin his career on Wall Street this summer. He was named the 2019 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Seton Hall's first winner of the award since 1996. Furthermore, the Nigerian native is a four-time member of the BIG EAST All-Academic team, two-time member of the NABC Honors Court and five-time selection to the Seton Hall Dean's List. He is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma, and holds his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Seton Hall, which he received in May 2018.
The senior captain also contributed on the court for the Pirates. He appeared in 135 games for The Hall, the most in school history. He scored 700 career points, ranking him 80th all-time. This season, Nzei became a full-time starter and averaged 9.0 points and 5.2 rebounds while sporting a team-high 60.2 field goal percentage which also ranks fifth in the BIG EAST.
A true winner, Nzei was a part of 88 Seton Hall basketball victories, which ties him with Terry Dehere (1989-93) for the third-most victories in school history. In addition, Nzei became just the third Seton Hall basketball student-athlete to appear in an NCAA Tournament game in four consecutive seasons, joining Arturas Karnisovas and Bryan Caver (1991-94).
The 2018-19 Senior Athletes of the Year were awarded to Abby Thelen of volleyball, and Dakota Williams from men's swimming & diving.
As part of Tuesday's banquet, Seton Hall Athletics also honored two graduating seniors from the Pirate Sports Network, Matt Ambrose and Dagen Hughes.
Michael Nzei & Head Coach Kevin Willard
Peyton Elder & Taylor Cutcliff
David Arvidsson & Sophia Coffey
VP & Director of Athletics & Recreation Pat Lyons & Abby Thelen
