RUSTON ââ'¬" Louisiana Tech junior Kathryn Sloan was named to the 2015 Academic All-America Division I Women's Soccer Third Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Sloan becomes the first Lady Techster in the soccer program's 12-year history to receive this honor and the first student-athlete from LA Tech since Erin Kipp (softball) in 2013.

"As a program, we take great pride in our academic performance to the same degree as our performance on the field," head coach Kevin Sherry said. "This away to Katie recognizes her achievements in both categories. She has had an excellent year both in the classroom and on the field which deserves huge credit."

The Kansas City, Missouri native has shined in academics, carrying a 4.0 cumulative grade point average while majoring in Communication Arts and Design. She was one of nine student-athletes out of the 33 selected as an Academic All-American with a perfect GPA.

As a result, Sloan has twice been named to the Academic All-District First Team and to the Conference USA All-Academic First Team.

The striker has equaled her performance in the classroom with her performance on the pitch, totaling a team-high 22 points and nine goals this past season to help lead the Techsters to the C-USA Tournament for a second straight year despite being picked preseason towards the bottom of the league.

With one year remaining, the two-time All-Conference USA selection is on pace to become the all-time career leader in program history in points, goals and shots.

Sloan was the lone honoree from the state of Louisiana and one of just two from C-USA, joining UTEP's Angela Cutaia.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 18,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.