Moravian Honors Senior Student-Athletes at Annual Awards Banquet in Johnston Hall
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College honored its 2019 senior student-athletes at the annual Senior Athletics Awards Banquet Wednesday night in Johnston Hall. Softball standout Kat Spilman was named the Outstanding Senior Female Athletes while men’s basketball player Oneil Holder was honored with the Outstanding Senior Male Athlete award. The Blue & Grey Scholar Athlete awards were presented to women’s soccer student-athlete Paige Kovacs and football player Nick Zambelli. The H.T.D. Gillespie Award for outstanding service to Moravian’s athletics program was presented to Terry Eddinger and Marty Jo Moyle.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian College honored its 2019 senior student-athletes at the annual Senior Athletics Awards Banquet Wednesday night in Johnston Hall. Softball standout Kat Spilman was named the Outstanding Senior Female Athletes while men's basketball player Oneil Holder was honored with the Outstanding Senior Male Athlete award. The Blue & Grey Scholar Athlete awards were presented to women's soccer student-athlete Paige Kovacs and football player Nick Zambelli. The H.T.D. Gillespie Award for outstanding service to Moravian's athletics program was presented to Terry Eddinger and Marty Jo Moyle.
Spilman, who was also selected as Moravian's Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Outstanding Athlete, helped Moravian to a 32-7 record this season that included an 11-1 mark in Landmark Conference action. This spring, Spilman hit .379 with 50 hits, 41 runs, 33 RBIs, four doubles, a triple and four home runs. Spilman ranks third in school history with 207 hits to go along with 142 runs, 128 RBIs, 26 doubles, 24 home runs and six triples in her career. She was the 2018 Landmark Conference Co-Player of the Year and the 2016 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year. Spilman was honored on the 2018 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-Atlantic Region Second Team, and she is a four-time Landmark All-Conference honoree, making the First Team in 2018 and the Second Team in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Holder had an impressive list of postseason awards that saw him selected to the Landmark All-Conference First Team, the D3hoops.com All-Middle Atlantic Region Second Team, the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Middle Atlantic Second Team and the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball Team of the Year. Holder topped the Greyhounds with averages of 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and he also had 78 assists, 48 steals, 31 blocked shots and 28 three-pointers this winter while helping the squad to its second consecutive Landmark Conference title, a 20-9 record and the program's first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament victory. Holder completed his career as the Greyhounds' third leading scorer with 1,660 points, and he is also sixth in program history with 714 rebounds. He played in a school record 110 games and is third all-time with 113 blocked shots. Holder, who was also the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year in 2016, set a school record with 1439 made free throws in 2018-19, and he attempted a school record 604 free throws during his four seasons at Moravian.
Kovacs, a defender on the women's soccer squad, has a 3.96 GPA while majoring in early childhood education and special education. She has been on the Dean's List every semester, and is a member of Moravian's Chi Alpha Sigma National Athlete Honor Society induction class. Kovacs is a three-time Landmark Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll selection, was on the 2018 Landmark Conference Fall All-Sportsmanship Team, and is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa, Kappa Delta Pi and Alpha Eta Sigma Honor Societies. She was also the Vice-President of Operations for Alpha Sigma Tau, a member of Moravian's Love Your Melon and a student tutor. On the pitch, Kovacs played in 66 career matches for the Greyhounds with 47 starts.
Zambelli, a defensive back and linebacker during his career on the football squad, has posted a 4.00 GPA in his career while majoring in both computer science and economics with a minor in mathematics. This past fall, Zambelli moved to a hybrid defensive back/linebacker position from safety the last three years and finished fifth on the squad with 54 tackles including 28 solo stops and one and a half tackles for loss despite missing a game with an injury. He also had two passes defended including one interception and a forced fumble. Zambelli, who served as a two-year captain and four-year starter at Moravian, contributed 218 tackles with 134 solo stops, eight interceptions, 19 passes defended, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, two and a half tackles for loss and one sack in 40 career games. He was also selected to the 2017 Centennial All-Conference Second Team. Off the field, Zambelli is the three-time member of the Centennial Conference Fall Academic Honor Roll and he was selected as both the 2017 Centennial Conference Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2017-18 Centennial Conference Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was on the 2017 Fall All-Centennial Conference Team for student-athletes that earn both All-Conference and Academic Honor Roll accolades. Zambelli is also a two-time Google Cloud NCAA Division III Football Academic All-America First Team selection.
Eddinger and Moyle are both in their 19th year at Moravian working as office managers in the athletic department with the duo both being hired on October 4, 1999. Eddinger and Moyle are two-person team that oversees travel, officials, budgets, purchasing, NCAA eligibility, special events, and all other details for 21 athletic teams and nearly 350 competitions annually.
