Embry-Riddle Athletics was once again proud to participate in the annual Volusia Thanksgiving Basket Brigade. The Basket Brigade provides boxes with all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal and delivers them to families in need. All 20 of Embry-Riddle’s sports programs as well as Athletics coaches and staff contributed to the effort and donated 28 boxes.
In addition, three teams had more hands-on involvement. The women’s basketball team loaded the Athletics Department's donations into a van at the ICI Center. The softball team spent nearly three hours unloading cars and trailers at the drop-off site, and the baseball team helped load the boxes for delivery to families in the community.
Embry-Riddle Athletics was once again proud to participate in the annual Volusia Thanksgiving Basket Brigade. The Basket Brigade provides boxes with all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal and delivers them to families in need. All 20 of Embry-Riddle’s sports programs as well as Athletics coaches and staff contributed to the effort and donated 28 boxes.
In addition, three teams had more hands-on involvement. The women’s basketball team loaded the Athletics Department's donations into a van at the ICI Center. The softball team spent nearly three hours unloading cars and trailers at the drop-off site, and the baseball team helped load the boxes for delivery to families in the community.
For more than 23 years, volunteers with the Volusia Basket Brigade have helped families in need by preparing boxes with the essentials for a Thanksgiving meal. People can nominate families to receive the boxes and they also work with other organizations to identify families that could use the help. This year, the Volusia Basket Brigade surpassed their goal of 4,000 boxes, setting a new record with 4,500 boxes delivered.
The Embry-Riddle softball team served a combined total of 717.5 hours during the fall semester. In total, the Eagles volunteered with 17 organizations at 32 different events including:
- Volusia Thanksgiving Basket Brigade
- Youth Emotional Support Softball Tournament
- Napa Food Bank
- Surfing the Gap Camp
- Suffolk County Police Department Special Victims Unit
- Redwood Credit Union Food Bank
- Lord of Life Lutheran Church
- COB Beach Cleanup
- Save the Animals Thrift Store
- Society of Women Engineers Stem Fair
WOMEN'S SOCCER
The second season of the Liam McIlhatton era brought more success and recognition to the Embry-Riddle women’s soccer program. The Eagles dropped just one game in regular season play on the way to claiming a share of the 2023 Sunshine State Conference regular season title with an 8-1-1 SSC record and a 14-2-3 record overall.
As the No. 2 seed in the six-team SSC tournament, the Eagles topped Florida Southern 1-0, avenging their only loss of the season, and earned the right to face top-seeded Florida Tech in the tournament finale. The Eagles and the Panthers faced each other twice during the regular season and both times, the result was a 1-1 tie. In the championship game, a first-half header by Lauryn Mateo was the difference as the Eagles won 1-0, defeating the Panthers in postseason play for the third year in a row.
With the win, the Eagles made Sunshine State Conference history, becoming the first women’s soccer program to win four straight conference tournament crowns.
Their performances throughout the season and in the conference tournament earned the Eagles a No. 1 seed and the opportunity to host a regional tournament. The Eagles were unable to advance past the second round, however, as a late Nova Southeastern goal brought the 2023 campaign to an end.
In addition to their success on the field the Eagles racked up several individual honors. An unprecedented 10 individuals earned All-Sunshine State Conference recognition led by Mateo who was tabbed as the league’s Freshman of the Year and the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, and Thea Nyberg who garnered SSC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Marie Myhrvold Seim made Embry-Riddle history, becoming the first woman to earn first team All-SSC honors four times. She was joined on the first team by three-time honoree Isabelle Navren, Nyberg and Grace Foyer.
Earning second team honors were Mateo, Hattie Kettle and Savanna Sheahan, while Oona Jokinen and Berglind Thrastardottir were named to the third team.
Myhrvold Seim, Navren and Nyberg also earned first team All-Region honors as awarded by the D2 Conference Commissioner’s Association. Foyer and Kettle were named to the All-Region first team
MEN'S SOCCER
The 2023 season for Embry-Riddle men's soccer, head coach David Gregson's 31st in charge, was an eventful one, both good and bad. Though going 4-9-2 isn't where the Eagles wanted to end up, ERAU doubled their wins from the previous year, won a conference match for the first time in two years, and defeated an NCAA Division I opponent for the first time in program history. On Wednesday, October 11, the Eagles traveled down to DeLand for a midweek match without a Sunshine State Conference opponent to play. Despite the NCAA Division I status of their opponent, the Stetson Hatters, ERAU came out victorious by a score of 4-1. After trailing 1-0 at halftime, Embry-Riddle tied it up via an own goal, before goals from Sandro Henning, Konstantin Kosoric and Anthony Velez gave them the win.
On Nov. 3, the Eagles hosted Palm Beach Atlantic on senior night. Though they fell behind in the 36th minute and for the next 50 minutes, three goals in the final five minutes gave them an SSC win.
From a player standpoint, the bright spot for the Eagles was freshman forward Jacob Callahan (No. 24). The Lake St. Louis, Missouri native tried out for the team, making it as a walk-on, and ended up leading the team in scoring with six goals. The goals all came in bunches, with two goals in the season opener in a 4-4 tie away to Flagler on Sept. 5, two goals in the 4-2 win against Spring Hill on the Sept. 8. home opener, and two goals and assist in the final five minutes of the Nov. 3. senior night 3-1 win over Palm Beach Atlantic. These performances earned Callahan the SSC Offensive Player of the Week award for both weeks.
The season also brought six College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections for the second consecutive year. Junior forward Eden Bokobza, junior midfielder/Sandro Henning, graduate student midfielder Konstantin Kosoric, junior midfielder Anthony Velez, junior defender/midfielder Cambell Young and sophomore midfielder Gabriel Mentrup won the award, meeting the requirements of a 3.5 cumulative GPA and participating in at least 50 percent of the team's games.
VOLLEYBALL
The Embry-Riddle volleyball team produced one of its best seasons since joining the NCAA II in 2017. The Eagles finished with a record of 22-10 and were tied for third in the Sunshine State Conference standings.
That performance was good enough to earn the program's third-ever bid to the NCAA II National Tournament, and its highest-ever seed at No. 3.
Throughout the season, ERAU notched winning streaks of five and eight matches. Included in that was the South Region crossover that saw that Eagles defeat all three of its Gulf South Conference opponents for the second consecutive season.
Victories against five opposing squads receiving votes in the national poll proved that the Blue and Gold were among the best in the region. Embry-Riddle also had No. 3 Tampa on the ropes at home as the Eagles took the Spartans to five sets inside the ICI Center on Nov. 16.
Jaden McBride had yet another outstanding year for the Eagles and played a major role in helping the program achieve all the success it did in 2023.
The junior led the team in multiple categories including points (481.5), kills (406), aces (41), and digs (334). McBride ranked inside the top-10 in the SSC in both kills per set (5th - 3.56) and aces per set (7th - 0.36).
Additionally, the outside hitter became just the 10th in program history to join the 1,000 kill club. She sits at 1,215 kills, which is the eighth-most by an Eagle. McBride's 1,419.5 points are also eighth on the program's all-time list.
Her incredible season led to multiple accolades included First Team All-Region and All-SSC honors. On top of that, McBride was named the SSC Offensive Player of the Week three times.
Isabella Rujano had a breakout campaign this fall. The sophomore stepped into a pivotal outside hitting role and made the most of it.
She was one of just four Eagles to play in all 32 matches and was second on the team in sets played with 115. In total, Rujano provided 369.5 points, 328 kills, 115 digs, and 72 blocks. The Orlando, Florida native was also highly efficient with a .291 hit percentage which was the eighth-highest in the conference.
This earned her a spot on the All-SSC Second Team as well as an AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention accolade.
Haley Manjack joined the program as a walk-on this past summer and quickly transformed into one of the best middle blockers in the SSC. Over the first four weeks of the season, Manjack was tabbed as the SSC Defensive player on two occasions.
At one point, the sophomore averaged the most blocks per set in the league and finished with 67 over 59 sets for a mark of 1.14 per set, third highest in the SSC.
Manjack was on a tear, picking up as many as nine blocks in a single match. Unfortunately, an injury in the match on Oct. 27 against Nova Southeastern forced her to miss almost a month of action. However, Manjack did reappear in the fourth set of the Eagles' NCAA II South Regional match against the Sharks on Nov. 30.
Like McBride, Devyn Petrowski, also joined a prestigious club this season as she recorded her 1,000th assist as a member of the Blue and Gold.
Over 32 matches, the senior earned 440 assists in 2023 to move her career total to 1,101 for the 10th-place spot on the program's all-time list.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
It was another solid season for Embry-Riddle men's cross country. The Eagles sat as high as third in the region rankings and 28th in the national rankings in 2023.
ERAU earned its sixth consecutive top-2 placement at the SSC Championship with a second-place result. The Eagles finished inside the top-5 in all seven meets and grabbed podium placements on four occasions.
The Blue and Gold's most impressive outing occurred at the Mountain Dew Invite on Sept. 15 when the Eagles bested a handful of NCAA I programs including Bethune-Cookman, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Stetson, Florida Gulf Coast, Chattanooga, South Florida, and Vanderbilt.
Then at the SSC Championship, ERAU set a blistering team time of 2:06.45, good enough for 10th on the program's all-time fastest 8K list.
Head Coach Mike Rosolino continued to establish himself as one of the league's top coaches as he was tabbed as the SSC Coach of the Year for the fifth time overall and the fourth time in as many seasons.
Over 24 seasons, Rosolino has received 14 men's cross country Coach of the Year honors and 30 overall cross country Coach of the Year accolades.
Tanner Rosolino and Brendon Shea produced fantastic seasons in 2023 as both earned spots on the All-SSC First Team.
For Rosolino, it was a breakout campaign that saw the senior receive SSC Runner of the Week honors three times and finished as the top Eagle in six of the seven meets. He was also voted the league's Runner of the Year, becoming just the third Eagle to win the award in the SSC and the seventh member of the Blue and Gold to receive Runner of the Year recognition. Additionally, Rosolino was included on the USTFCCCA All-Region squad.
His sixth-place finish at the NCAA II South Regional allowed Rosolino to become the third Eagle to ever earn an individual bid to the NCAA II National Championship. There, he clocked his second-fastest 10K time of 32:58.8.
Equally as fast was Shea, who was crowned the SSC's individual champion, becoming just the second in program history to earn that title. He beat out Rosolino by just over six seconds with a time of 24:49.7. Over five meets, Shea placed inside the top-20 four times.
Andrew Stowe racked up the awards in his sophomore season as the Eagle was named to both the All-SSC (Second) and All-Region teams.
Stowe set personal bests in the season-opening Mocs XC Kick-Off (6K - 19:51.0) and the UAH Invitational (8K - 24:39.5) and recorded his best finish of ninth place at the SSC Championship.
He also became the fourth member of the Blue and Gold to receive an individual bid to the NCAA II National Championship.
Head Coach Rosolino expected Nick Scarangelli to make an impact in his freshman season, and that's exactly what he did.
The Ocean City, New Jersey native became the fifth Eagle to be named the SSC Freshman of the Year. He immediately left a mark with a ninth-place showing at the season-opening Mocs XC Kick-Off.
Six weeks later, Scarangelli grabbed a top-20 result at the SSC Championship (17th). He was a top-5 runner in five of the Eagles' seven meets.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
The Embry-Riddle women’s cross country team enjoyed a competitive 2023 season, including a fourth place finish at the Sunshine State Conference Championships and a sixth place finish at NCAA II South Region Championship.
With a roster full of veteran runners, the Eagles were paced at the SSC Championships by junior Abby Valley and newcomer Taylor Roth, both of whom earned All-Sunshine State Conference recognition.
Roth (22:27.7) took home a 10th-place finish in her first ever 6K, while Valley ran a blistering 6K pace (22:41.7) to help the Eagles finish fourth.
Outside of the SSC Championships, ERAU fared well in its own event, hosting the Embry Riddle Cross Country Classic and taking a second-place finish.
Sophomore Caroline Harris recorded her first-ever top-5 placement in the 5K with a time of 19:37.2, while Kelly Steffens, Abby Valley and Taylor Roth all fell in line within the next nine seconds. Sophomore Kendall Mathis just missed a fifth top-10 finish for the Blue and Gold, posting a personal best time of 20:18.9.
In the two events leading up to the Sunshine State Cross Country Championships, a few Eagles hit personal marks. Senior Kelly Steffens flew to a new PR in the 5K of the UAH Invitational (18:34.9), while Roth set a new personal mark of 18:36.4.
Male Athlete of the Month
Dru Nickson - Men's Basketball
Men’s basketball junior Dru Nickson earned the nod for Embry-Riddle Male Athlete of the Month after a stellar November on the court. Nickson helped the Eagles to a 5-1 record in the season’s first month, averaging a career-best 15.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The Melbourne, Fla., native added 27 assists, nine steals and two blocks for the Blue and Gold as well. He paced the Eagles and tied a career high with 21 points in the victory over Morehouse on Nov. 11.
Female Athlete of the Month
Keturah Balabyekkubo - Women's Basketball
Keturah Balabyekkubo of the women’s basketball team takes home the Female Athlete of the Month following a breakout November. The senior guard is averaging a career-high 11.8 points per game so far, helping the Eagles to a 5-1 record to start the season. Balabyekkubo notched 17 points, eight rebounds and personal best six steals in the victory over Auburn Montgomery on Nov. 11. On Nov. 24 against Flagler, Balabyekkubo racked up 12 points and a career- and game-high nine rebounds.