Moon Township, Pa. - Senior Annie Dubovec (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston) of Robert Morris University was honored by the Northeast Conference Thursday for her performance on the field and in the classroom, as she was named the 2011 NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the sport of softball.

It marks the second straight NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolade for Dubovec, as she also earned the award in 2010, and she is the third player from the softball program to garner the award, joining former Colonials Stephani Ehrenfeld (2000) and Nicole Aloi (2001).  

Dubovec is also one of just four student-athletes in school history to be named the NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year on multiple occasions, joining former track & field student athletes Jim Baughman (1999, 2000) and Jeff Witmyer (2007, 2008) and former volleyball standout Amanda Graham (2009, 2010).

One of two RMU student-athletes to be honored this spring as an NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Dubovec joins junior Kiel Matisz (Stoney Creek, Ontario / Saltfleet), who was named the 2011 NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's lacrosse.

Dubovec and Matisz are also the third and fourth student-athletes from Robert Morris to earn NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolades in the 2010-11 academic year, joining Nolan Nearhoof (Gibsonia, Pa. / Mars Area) of the football team and Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie) of the volleyball squad. The four student-athletes honored are the most in one academic year in school history.

A 2011 All-NEC First Team selection, Dubovec helped Robert Morris claim its fifth NEC regular-season championship this season by hitting .357 to go along with a .518 slugging percentage. She also led the team in hits (60), RBI (30), total bases (87) and doubles (7).  

A member of the starting lineup in each of her final 104 career games, Dubovec compiled a 3.92 cumulative grade point average (GPA) as a mathematics major. In addition to earning NEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, Dubovec was named to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America First Team by the College Sports Information of Directors (CoSIDA).

A three-time selection to the Capital One District II Academic All-America Team, Dubovec highlighted her senior campaign with a home run off University of Florida All-American Stephanie Brombacher. 

In addition to the honor for Dubovec, a total of 119 student-athletes from Robert Morris covering nine spring sports, including 62 female student-athletes, were named to the 2011 NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll.

To be eligible for the honor roll, student-athletes must have posted a cumulative GPA of 3.20 and be an active member of an officially recognized varsity team. Freshman are eligible for the honor roll.

In addition, a total of 33 student-athletes from RMU were named to the 2011 NEC Spring Commissioner's Honor Roll. To garner the honor, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.75, and freshman are eligible for the honor roll.

To view the entire list of Robert Morris student-athletes that competed in a spring sport named to either the 2011 NEC Spring Academic Honor Roll or the 2011 NEC Spring Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll, please follow the respective links associated with this article.