Atlantic Sun Release

MACON, Ga. (5/3/2016) -- For the second consecutive year, University of Detroit Mercy senior Kylie Birney (Plymouth, Mich. / Ladywood) has been voted the Atlantic Sun Women's Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The award was announced with the release of the A-Sun All-Academic Team on Tuesday afternoon.

Birney, who holds a 3.99 GPA and is enrolled in the five-year MBA program at UDM, was also the 2015 Atlantic Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a junior becoming the first student-athlete in the four-year history of women's lacrosse in the conference to receive the honor twice. Birney has also been named to the All-Academic Team all three times that she has been eligible.

Birney was one of two Titans to earn their way onto the 12-member Atlantic Sun All-Academic Team as junior midfielder Julie Castner (Orlando, Fla. / University) was named to the All-Academic Team for the first time in her career. Castner has a 3.84 GPA in Biology.

Birney is a three-year co-captain who earned UDM's 2015-16 President's Award, the highest honor a senior student-athlete can receive as a Titan. The midfielder has started all 17 games this season for the Titans and ranks fourth on the team with 24 goals and 13 caused turnovers and fifth with 28 ground balls.

A four-year starter, Birney became the fourth Titan in school history to surpass the 100-goal plateau earlier this season against Mount St. Mary's and enters the Atlantic Sun Championship with 106 career goals. She ranks fifth all-time in Detroit history in draw controls (100) and seventh in ground balls (117).

Castner has played in all 17 games this year, starting 15 of them. She has 17 ground balls and nine caused turnovers for the Titans, while adding five goals and one assist on offense. She had a career-high six ground balls in her last game against Howard and has two games of three caused turnovers this season. Castner has also been named to the UDM Athletic Director's Honor Roll in all three of her seasons. 

The Academic All-Conference Team recognizes student-athletes who excel both on the field and in the classroom and exemplify the A-Sun's mission of Building Winners for Life. All the members of the team boast a 3.30 cumulative grade point average or better and participated in at least half of their team's games.

Detroit has had multiple members on the Atlantic Sun All-Academic Team in all four seasons of A-Sun women's lacrosse.

The Titans (10-7) enter the Atlantic Sun Championship as the No. 4 seed and face No. 5 Mercer on Thursday, May 5 at 1 p.m. from Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Ga. Detroit has won 10 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history.

2016 Atlantic Sun Women's Lacrosse All-Academic Honors

Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Kylie Birney, Detroit

All-Academic Team
Kylie Birney, Senior, Detroit
Taylor McGhee, Junior, Kennesaw State
Julie Castner, Junior, Detroit
Jasmine Wilson, Junior, Howard
Jaime Chapman, Junior, Jacksonville
Taylor McCord, Senior, Jacksonville
Elaine Bradley, Sophomore, Kennesaw State
Tori Blakeman, Sophomore, Mercer
Haleigh Wurzel, Sophomore, Mercer
Lindsey Zeltwanger, Sophomore, Mercer
Morgan Gallagher, Senior, Old Dominion
Cydney Tutchton, Sophomore, Old Dominion