Trio of Rebels Earn Academic All-District Honors

Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Information

OXFORD, Miss. – A trio of Rebels earned a spot on the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team for outstanding performance in the classroom as Maddie Friedmann, Georgia Russell and Rafaelle Souza were honored when the organization announced its honorees.

As members of the All-District team (Ole Miss is in District VI), the three Rebels are eligible for Academic All-America honors.

To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must hold a 3.3 GPA or higher and must be in their second year at the nominating institution. Student-athletes must also have competed in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at the time of nomination.

A senior on the squad, Souza boasts a 3.75 GPA in Engineering and will earn her degree after only three years at Ole Miss. The 2012 SEC Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year and an NSCAA Scholar All-America selection, this is the second time Souza has been named a first team All-District selection by Capital One and CoSIDA. The senior leads the team with 18 goals on the year and is second in the Southeastern Conference in the category. She is also second on the career goals list at Ole Miss and one shy of tying the record set in 1996.

Friedmann and Russell are both in their second year with the program, and play on the back line as defenders.

Friedmann starts at center back for the Rebels and has helped Ole Miss post eight shutout victories on the way to a 14-4-2 record and a 7-3-1 mark in SEC play. She holds a 3.85 GPA in Liberal Arts and has started every match for the Rebels this season.

Russell is also in her second year with the Rebels and played in 13 matches as the first defensive player off the bench to shore up the back line. The Tupelo, Miss., native suffered a season-ending ankle injury against No. 7 South Carolina, a game the Rebels played to a 1-1 draw. She holds a 3.98 GPA in Accounting.

Having concluded the regular season Thursday night, Ole Miss will open the Southeastern Conference Tournament next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. when the Rebels take on Kentucky. Ole Miss is the four seed in the annual event, while Kentucky is the five seed. The two teams did not face each other in the regular season, though Ole Miss won the last meeting 2-0 in Oxford in 2012.

— Bill Bunting Ole Miss Sports Information