CONWAY, Ark. _ University of Central Arkansas golfers Fernanda Lira and Emma Svensson were named to the 2018 Southland All-Academic Women's Golf first team on Monday. All yearly Southland awards are presented by Ready Nutrition.

    Lira, a senior from Mexico City, Mexico, and Svensson, a junior from Halmsted, Sweden, were both automatic selections by being named All-Conference and claiming spots in the NCAA Regional.  Lira has a 3.37 grade-point average and graduated with a degree in marketing. Svensson, a two-time All-Academic selection, has a 3.35 GPA in management.

    Lira finished third at the SLC Championship while Svensson was fourth, helping UCA to a runnerup finish. Svensson played in her second NCAA Regional and Lira made her first appearance.
    
    The All-Academic teams are voted on by a head coach, sports information director and academic/compliance staff member from each Southland Conference institution. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition to qualify for All-Academic selection. Nominees who were also named to the All-Conference First Team or CoSIDA Academic All-District team are automatically named Southland All-Academic.

    The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member schools, votes for the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees must have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
 
Student-Athlete of the Year: Hanna Alberto, Sam Houston State

First Team

Name	Class	School	Hometown	Major	GPA
Hanna Alberto*^	So.	Sam Houston State	Kingwood, Texas	Public Health	3.71
Emma Svensson*2	Jr.	Central Arkansas	Halmstad, Sweden	Management	3.35
Kaity Cummings*	Jr.	Houston Baptist	Waco, Texas	Kinesiology	3.70
Fernanda Lira*	Sr.	Central Arkansas	Mexico City, Mexico	Marketing	3.37
Elodie Chapelet*	So.	Lamar	Souraide, France	General Business	3.38

 
Second Team

Name	Class	School	Hometown	Major	GPA
Lexi Brooks2	Jr.	Houston Baptist	Kingwood, Texas	Nursing	3.60
Olivia Le Roux3	Sr.	Lamar	Brackenfell, South Africa	Biology	4.00
Hannah Valentine	Sr.	McNeese	Huntsville, Texas	Molecular Biology	3.97
Jenna Phillips	Jr.	Sam Houston State	Trophy Club, Texas	Marketing	4.00
Alisa Chong	So.	Houston Baptist	Carrolton, Texas	Kinesiology	3.56

 
_* 2017-18 First Team All-Conference Selection
^ 2017-18 Player of the Year
² Two-time All-Academic selection
³ Three-time All-Academic selection