Kelsey Kearney

Classroom

Kearney was an NSCAA Scholar All-America third-team selection in 2010 after earning a spot on the NSCAA Scholar all-region first team. She has been an Academic All-Southern Conference performer in each of her two seasons of eligibility for the award, and is a Dean’s List and Chancellor’s List student. She owns a 3.78 grade point average and is majoring in kinesiology.

Character

A starter in goal since her freshman year, Kearney has always been a team leader. At the conclusion of the 2010-11 school year, Kearney was awarded the Southern Conference’s Coleman Lew Leadership Award. Coaches, faculty athletic representatives and senior women administrators nominate prospective candidates based on leadership, academic excellence and athletic achievement in both the college environment and the community. Athletic directors and representatives from Coleman Lew & Associates conducted one-on-one interviews with the finalists before determining the award winners. Kearney is also about to enter her second year as a team captain for UNCG. In addition, Kearney has had to overcome a serious knee injury in her career. The night before UNCG’s Southern Conference tournament semifinal match in 2009, Kearney tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus in her right knee at practice, forcing her to miss the tournament as the top-seeded Spartans fell in the semis. After surgery, she rehabbed for six months and returned better than ever the following season, matching the school record for single-season shutouts in 2010.

Community

Kearney has participated in UNCG’s Relay for Life with the rest of the women’s soccer team in each of her three years on the team, raising funds and walking in the event. She has also volunteered with the team at the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association’s First Timers Clinic, coaching and working with children ages 4-6. Kearney has also been involved with the FOX8 Gifts for Kids campaign, in which gifts for needy children are collected at UNCG sporting events and UNCG student-athletes donate their time at the FOX8 Gifts for Kids warehouse assisting in the distribution of the gifts collected. Kearney has also volunteered at UNCG’s pink games for women’s basketball and volleyball, helping to raise awareness of breast cancer and collecting donations for research.

Competition

Kearney was a second-team NSCAA/Performance Subaru All-Southeast Region selection in 2010, when she was a crucial part of a UNCG team that was ranked in the top 10 nationally for the first time since 1996. A three-time All-Southern Conference selection (two first team, one second team), Kearney was the SoCon tournament MVP in UNCG’s 2010 win and has been named to the all-tournament team twice in her career. She is also a two-time North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association All-State pick and was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team in 2008. Kearney has rewritten the UNCG record book in just three seasons on the squad, as she is already the Spartans’ career shutouts leader (31) and needs just six to become the all-time leader in the Southern Conference. She also enters her senior season as UNCG’s career leader in goals against average with a 0.61 mark and owns three of the top four single-season marks, including the school-record 0.48 GAA she turned in as a freshman. Kearney has earned wins in the net over top-15 teams in each of her three years, with shutout wins over No. 15 Santa Clara and No. 11 Duke and a 2-1 win over No. 10 Wake Forest. In 2010, Kearney was the keeper of record in every game for UNCG as the Spartans went 19-2-1 to set school records for most wins and fewest losses. The Spartans entered the NCAA tournament last season leading the nation in wins.