Ali Deatsch (l) and Kelsey Evans are among the 2012-13 SoCon Postgraduate Scholarships. The Southern Conference announced its 10 postgraduate scholarship recipients for the 2012-13 academic year on March 21. Elon volleyball’s Ali Deatsch and women’s basketball’s Kelsey Evans were both selected as graduate scholars. The two seniors will be honored for their accomplishments at the Southern Conference Honors Dinner in Hilton head, S.C., on May 30. This marks the second straight year that Elon has had two athletes selected for postgraduate scholarships.
Deatsch has been awarded one of two Bob McCloskey Insurance Graduate scholarships. A four-year starter at libero and a two-year team captain for the Phoenix, Deatsch finished her career as Elon’s Division I career digs leader and single-season aces record holder. Deatsch has been active in the community, serving as a student leader for Habitat for Humanity and volunteering with a third-grade class, as well as with the Costa Rica Service Learning Course.
A physics major, Deatsch has excelled in the field, being recognized by the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Research Program for outstanding work in STEM-related undergraduate research. She has presented research at the Biophysical Society’s annual meeting in each of the last two years and her abstract was recently presented at the Multifunctional Hybrid and Nanomaterials Conference in Sorrento, Italy. In 2011, Deatsch became the first Elon student-athlete to earn the university’s prestigious Lumen Prize, which comes with a $15,000 scholarship, for her research proposal titled "Optimizing Heating Efficiency of Magnetic Microspheres for Magnetic Hyperthermia Treatment of Malignant Tumors." She is a member of the physics honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma and the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society. Deatsch has a 3.72 grade point average and will continue her physics education at the postgraduate level.
Evans is the 2013 recipient of the Coleman Lew & Associates Graduate Scholarship. A forward for the Phoenix, Evans is a three-time All-Southern Conference selection and a career 1,000-point scorer. The Raleigh, N.C., native will finish her career as Elon’s career and single-season blocked shots leader, as well as third in career rebounds and on the program’s top-10 scoring chart. The maroon and gold have reached postseason play twice in Evans’ career, taking part in the Women’s Basketball Invitational in 2011 and 2013.
Elon’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president, Evans was a researcher for Elon Brain Care and presented research at the Concussion in Athletics Conference at Penn State in October. She was a team leader of anatomy lab teaching assistants and has gone on several school visits as a speaker and tutor. A member of Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society, Evans owns a 3.59 grade point average in exercise science. She intends to pursue an exercise science graduate program and medical school after graduation.
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by Dan Anderson, Staff Last Updated - 3/22/2013
