Kansas City, Mo. – The Western Carolina women's soccer team garnered national recognition for the 21st consecutive season, this week earning the College Team Academic Award United Soccer Coaches (USC). The consecutive academic honor streak began in the 2005 season, with head coach Chad Miller's squads earning the accolade throughout his 17-year run in Cullowhee.
The most recent academic honor comes after a strong performance in the classroom for the 2025-26 Catamount squad, posting a 3.64 grade point average. For the second season in a row, the Catamounts were one of only two Southern Conference teams represented on the academic list, again joined by Mercer.
Additionally, the 2025-26 WCU Soccer team placed six on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team last fall, with Isabella DeMarco, Ava Robitaille, Milla Syska, Abbie Wise, Leanne Trudel, and Sofia Goclowski each earning the honor. Both Robitaille and DeMarco were named to the USC Scholar All-South Region team as well, with DeMarco becoming the first Catamount in program history to earn USC Scholar All-American Honors.
A combined 777 collegiate soccer teams – 451 women's teams and 326 men's teams – cleared the benchmark 3.0 team GPA to earn USC academic honors. That surpasses the 697 teams that earned the honor in 2024-25 and the 422 to do so in 2023-24.
The 2026 Catamounts wrap up their preseason slate this Saturday, Aug. 8, as they host Wright State for a 2 p.m. exhibition tune-up at the on-campus Catamount Athletic Complex. With 14 newcomers to the program, head coach Chad Miller and staff look to take advantage of the final preseason practices before the 2026 regular-season opener against Winthrop on Aug. 13 at 6 p.m., live on ESPN+ (paid subscription required).
Keep track of everything related to Catamount women's soccer and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @Catamountsoccer).
