ANDERSON, S.C. – Anderson University women's basketball and volleyball standouts Alexy Mollenhauer and Emily Conlin, along with men's soccer standout Gal Elyashiv were honored as the Co-Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively, at AU Athletics' Athletic Honors Night, Tuesday evening at the G. Ross Anderson Jr. Student Center.
Mollenhauer, a junior, helped lead the Trojans to a 30-3 overall record, which included a school-record 28-game win streak, and a perfect 20-0 run through their South Atlantic Conference slate, as the Trojans climbed as high as No. 6 in the nation.
With Mollenhauer leading the way, AU claimed both the SAC regular-season and tournament title for the first time since the 2012-13 season and earned their fifth straight berth in the NCAA Tournament, while earning the right to host the NCAA Southeast Regional for the first time since 2005.
Mollenhauer started in all 33 games for the Black and Gold, while averaging more than 34 minutes per game. She was named the SAC Player of the Year, as well as the Southeast Region Player of the Year after leading the conference with her 19.9 points per game and ranking second with 11.2 rebounds per contest. A six-time SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week honoree during the season, Mollenhauer became the 14th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career point milestone in AU's win over Mars Hill and is currently fifth in the school record books with 1,336 points.
The versatile guard recorded 22 double-doubles, pulled down 369 rebounds.and averaged 2.2 assists per game to go along with 43 blocks and 39 steals on the season. She was named the SAC Tournament MVP, while also being named a D2CCA First Team All-American and WBCA All-American.
Off the court, the native of Lindale, Texas, was named the SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's hoops and earned Google Cloud Academic All-America First-Team recognition.
Conlin, also a junior, garnered All-Southeast Region honors and Honorable Mention All-America accolades for the second consecutive year. The Glendale, Ariz., native was named to the NCAA All-Southeast Region Tournament squad and the South Atlantic Conference All-Tournament Team and has earned All-Conference honors following each of her three seasons wearing the Black and Gold. She has been named a Google Cloud Academic All-America honoree for each of the last two seasons.
The Glendale, Ariz., native started every match for the Trojans last season and was second in the league with a career-high 1,319 assists and averaged 11.27 assists per set. She paced the SAC in aces and aces per set, while ranking ninth in digs and 14th in digs per set.
Conlin recorded 23 double-doubles on the season, while standing 10th in the country in aces and 17th nationally in assists per set. She dished out double-figure assists in every match last season and reached 40+ assists on 17 occasions and 50+ assists in six matches. She is a four-time member of the Anderson University Dean's List and is a member of SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll.
After just three seasons, Conlin is already third all-time in the AU record books in total assists. She was named SAC Specialist of the Week on four occasions in 2018, marking eight times during her stellar career.
Elyashiv was instrumental in the men's soccer team's tremendous success this past season, as the Trojans advanced to the SAC Championship match and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Southeast Region Tournament for their fourth appearance on a regional stage since joining the SAC in 2010.
Behind Elyashiv's stellar defensive efforts, AU finished as runners-up in the SAC Championship before advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Southeast Regional, where they defeated third-seeded Limestone before dropping a heartbreaking, 1-0, double-overtime decision to eighth-ranked and host Lander in the tourney semifinals.
Gal started all 19 matches between the pipes for the Trojans and earned SAC Defensive Player of the Week in mid-October. The native of Rishon Le Zion, Israel, was named Second-Team All-Conference after leading the conference in saves, save percentage, minutes played, goals against average and fewest goals against.
The sophomore keeper was 10th in the nation in save percentage, 11th in total minutes played and 14th in the country in total saves. With Elyashiv's leadership and the Black and Gold's stingy backline, AU was ranked ninth in the nation for team save percentage and 29th in goals against average.
In addition to the Male and Female Athlete of the Year recognition, several other accolades were handed out during the ceremony.
AU Athletic Honors Night
ED OXFORD MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Gal Elyashiv, Men's Soccer
ED OXFORD CO-FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Alexy Mollenhauer, Women's Basketball
ED OXFORD CO-FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Emily Conlin, Volleyball
MALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Andrew Boynton, Men's Basketball
FEMALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Kasey Grant, Softball
CHI ALPHA SIGMA HONOR SOCIETY
Cody Adams, Baseball
Christian Carpenter, Baseball
Matt Overton, Baseball
Brent Reynolds, Baseball
Dillon Carpenter, Baseball
Will Gee, Baseball
Matthew Stanley, Baseball
Jackson Strange, Baseball
Joseph Strange, Baseball
Jake Miller, Men's Golf
Samantha Ellison, Women's Golf
Makalyn Poole, Women's Golf
Jordan Crookes, Men's Tennis
Jerry Price, Men's Tennis
Preston Morpeth, Men's Tennis
Jeffrey Dayton, Men's Tennis
Hank Sartain, Men's Tennis
Jacqueline Olivia, Women's Tennis
Meghan Majeski, Softball
Kasey Grant, Softball
Joshlyn Martin, Softball
Emily Conlin, Volleyball
Emily Conard, Volleyball
Megan Embry, Volleyball
Jayln Knight, Volleyball
Katie Lloyd, Volleyball
Jhon Vacca, Men's Soccer
Johnny Landis, Men's Soccer
Birkir Petursson, Men's Soccer
Juan Restrepo, Men's Soccer
Melanie Maddox, Women's Soccer
Bethany Morgan, Women's Soccer
Annie Kate Hodge, Women's Soccer
Madison Cutts, Women's Soccer
Megan Foster, Women's Soccer
Abby Helm, Women's Soccer
Hannah Liner, Women's Soccer
Lindsey Aman, Cheerleading
Megan Cartee, Cheerleading
Stephane Long, Cheerleading
Breanna McAlister, Cheerleading
Andrew Boynton, Men's Basketball
Alexy Mollenhauer, Women's Basketball
Cassie Ketchum, Women's Basketball
Luke Horne, Men's Cross Country and Track & Field
Emily Olson, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
Maddie Buddenburg, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
Martha Coleman, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
JoLyn Copeland, Women's Track & Field
Allyson Malone, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field
Madison Seay, Women's Cross Country and Track & Field