BOSTON – New Hampshire’s Yannick Bright and Binghamton’s Tsvetelina Ilieva added to their impressive career resumes by being named the 2023-24 America East Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, as announced by the league on Wednesday afternoon. The duo were chose from a group of 18 student-athletes who were named Scholar-Athletes in their respective sports this year.
Bright is the second Wildcat to be named Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, joining former teammate Adam Savill who won in 2022. Ilieva is the first Bearcat to earn Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition. Bright currently plays in the MLS for Inter Miami CF, while Ilieva is set to begin her third season with Binghamton volleyball this fall.
2023-24 Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Tsvetelina Ilieva, Binghamton Volleyball
- Owns a 3.99 GPA as a fifth year business administration major.
- Named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention in 2023 for the second straight season.
- 2023 and 2022 #AEVB Player of the Year & Two-Time First-Team All-Conference selection.
- Recorded double-digit kills in 23 of 26 matches while leading the conference in kills (443) and points (507).
- Ranked 17th nationally in kills per set (4.49) and 20th in points per set (4.96).
- Led Binghamton to an appearance in 2023 #AEVB Championship match.
- 2023-24 America East Volleyball Scholar-Athlete and All-Academic Selection.
2023-24 Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Yannick Bright, New Hampshire Men’s Soccer
- Graduated with a 3.56 GPA as a business administration major.
- 2023 United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-America and the first three-time All-American in league history.
- Three-time #AEMSOC Midfielder of the Year and First-Team All-Conference selection.
- Led New Hampshire to Four NCAA Tournament appearances and a pair of #AEMSOC Tournament Championships.
- Appeared in 69 career matches, leading UNH to a 61-10-7 (.827) record over his four-year career.
- 2023-24 and 2022-23 Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
- Currently a member of Inter Miami CF of the MLS after being drafted No. 15 overall in December 2023.
Bright and Ilieva excelled as student-athletes this year, embodying the complete student-athlete. The Scholar-Athletes of the Year were voted on by the conference's Student-Athlete Engagement Committee. Each year, the committee elects a Scholar-Athlete in each of the league's 18 championship sports following the fall, winter and spring seasons and from that group, chooses one male and one female as the conference's Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
2023-24 Sport Scholar-Athletes Fall | Winter & Spring
Listing of all-time America East Scholar-Athletes of the Year.
America East is proud to have one of most comprehensive academic awards programs in the country, which honors over two-thirds of its student-athletes for their success in the classroom, including its sports Scholar-Athletes, All-Academic honorees, Presidential Scholar-Athletes, Elite 18 honorees and Honor Roll/Commissioner’s Honor Roll recipients.
ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference and its social media channels, @AmericaEast.
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