Six members of the Chestnut Hill College Women's Lacrosse team have been named to the 2023 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Women's Lacrosse All-Academic Team in an announcement made by the conference office on Thursday.

In order to be eligible for the CACC All-Academic Teams, student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, must have been a student-athlete at their current school for at least two semesters, and must have achieved a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.50 or higher through the preceding semester.

The six Chestnut Hill players were among 66 players named to the team, representing all 11 schools that play women's lacrosse within the conference. 

Leading the way for the Griffins were repeat honorees senior Rexney Thenor and junior Molly Killion. Thenor earned All-Academic status for the third time while Killion is a two-time honoree.  First time honorees include seniors Danielle Vassallo and Angel Hines and juniors Torrin Kelley and Kaitlyn Carter.  Four of the six honorees were also named to a CACC All-Academic team in a second sport with Killion and Hines named to the CACC Women's Soccer All-Academic Team and Kelley the Women's Volleyball All-Academic Team in the fall of 2022.  Carter was part of the CACC Women's Basketball All-Academic Team announced earlier this year.

The six honorees are all members of Chi Alpha Sigma, the National Student Athlete honor society with Hines and Thenor inducted in 2022 and Killion, Vassallo, Carter and Kelley inducted in 2023.

Five of the six honorees, Killion, Hines, Kelley, Vassallo and Thenor were also named D2 Athletic Director's Association (D2ADA) Academic Achievement Award Winners in 2021-22.

Additionally, at the beginning of this week, Killion, Thenor and Vassallo were also named to the College Sports Communicators Women's At-Large Academic All-District team. 

An English major, Killion was inducted into Sigma Theta Delta (English Studies) honor society earlier this month. A stalwart of defense on the lacrosse field, Killion started all 16 games and earned Second Team all-CACC honors, leading the conference in caused turnovers/game while ranking eighth among all NCAA Division II players. 

Vassallo graduated this month with honors from the college with a dual degree in Elementary Education and special Education. She was inducted into Kappa Epsilon Delta, the education studies honor society in 2022.    On the field this season, Vassallo started all 16 games and had a career year offensively, ranking second on the team in goals, assists and points, along with leading the team in draw controls. 

Thenor also graduated with honors earlier this month, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. The senior midfielder had a solid year in 2023, with career-best marks for goals, assists and points. Thenor was also named an Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar earlier this month, earning first team honors. 

A biology major, Hines also graduated this month from the college with honors earning a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.  She is a four-time CHC Athletic Academic Honor Roll member and has earned Dean's List recognition four times.

Kelley, a double major in forensic biology and forensic chemistry, is a two-time honoree on the CACC volleyball All-Academic team.  Kelley is a member of the Sigma Zeta honor society and has earned Dean's List accolades four times in addition to CHC Athletic Academic honor roll five times. She played in all 16 games this year, scoring three goals and had 19 ground balls.

Carter was a three-sport athlete for the Griffins this season, serving as the starting goalkeeper on the CACC runner-up women's soccer team, as well as a starter/sixth person for the women's basketball team.  On the lacrosse field, Carter played in 13 games and had 28 ground ball while scoring her first three collegiate goals.

Since joining the CACC for the 2007-08 season, 34 different Griffin women's lacrosse players have been named to the CACC Women's Lacrosse All-Academic Team a total of 70 times.  Thenor is among the 14 three-time honorees while Killion is among the eight CHC women's lacrosse players who have been recognized twice by the conference.