College Notebook

Elon soccer coach Chris Little leaves for Seattle Sounders

Elon men’s soccer head coach Chris Little has resigned to take a new role with the reigning MLS Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC, Elon Director of Athletics Dave Blank announced on Tuesday. A national search for Little’s successor will begin immediately.

Little will serve as the director of coaching for the Seattle Sounders FC Academy with the goal to help develop and produce homegrown professional players.

In three seasons at Elon, Little guided the Phoenix to an overall record of 30-18-9 and an at-large appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2015 when the maroon and gold earned a share of the CAA Regular Season title. Little led Elon to its first win in an NCAA tournament match, as the Phoenix claimed a 3-0 victory over Winthrop at Rudd Field.

Wake Forest: Senior captain Jacori Hayes was named the 2016 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday. He was joined on the All-ACC Academic Team by senior Ian Harkes, junior Kevin Politz and sophomore Brad Dunwell.

Duke: Cody Brinkman, Max Moser and Brian White were honored for their excellence in the classroom and on the field, earning spots on the All-ACC Academic Team. It was the first honor for all three Blue Devils.

N.C. State: Rising juniors Simon Blotko and Julius Duchscherer and redshirt senior Alex McCauley were named to the All-ACC Academic Team. McCauley completes his career having earned this honor three times.

Duke: Senior defender Christina Gibbons has been named the 2016 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition, Gibbons, Schuyler DeBree, Imani Dorsey, Toni Payne, EJ Proctor, Lizzy Raben and Ella Stevens were selected to the 2016 All-ACC Academic Team, which was released Tuesday by the league office.

N.C. State: Freshmen Tziarra King, Kia Rankin, Kristina Schuster, Michaella van Maanen and Ricarda Walkling were all selected to the All-ACC Academic Team, giving the Wolfpack its most honorees in one season in school history,

Wake Forest: A pair of Demon Deacon captains, senior Sarah Teegarden and junior Maddie Huster, were named to the ACC All-Academic Team.

N.C. State: Off to a 7-3 start in ACC play which includes four wins over teams ranked within the national top 15, the Wolfpack (17-6, 7-3 ACC) moved up two spots Tuesday from 19th to 17th in the Feb. 7 USA Today poll. This comes one day after the Wolfpack moved up from 19th to 17th in the Feb. 6 AP poll.

Duke: For the second straight day, redshirt junior Lexie Brown received national accolades as she was one of 19 midseason candidates announced for The Dawn Staley Award. The award is given to the most outstanding collegiate guard in the country, which exemplifies the skills that Staley possessed during her career (ball handling, scoring, her ability to distribute the basketball and her will to win).

ECU: The Pirates (10-13, 1-9 AAC) continue their three-game home stand Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game against No. 22 USF (18-4, 7-2). The team looks to snap a seven-game losing streak and improve to 7-5 all-time against the Bulls. Wednesday marks the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Bulls previously defeated the Pirates 79-48 on Jan. 14 in Tampa, Fla.

Mount Olive: Junior Rachel Fehl has been named the university’s Female Scholar-Athlete of the Month for January.

N.C. State: After setting the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season and the sixth fastest time in school history in the 3,000 meters, Rachel Koon has been named the ACC Women’s Track Performer of the Week.

UNC: Nicole Greene earned Women’s Field Performer accolades for the second time this season. The sophomore won the high jump for the third consecutive meet at the Camel City Invitational, clearing a mark of 1.81m (5-11.25). That showing ranks third in the ACC.

Saint Augustine’s: On Tuesday, the Falcons were elevated to fifth in the NCAA Division II men’s indoor track and field rankings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Falcons are 16th in the women’s rankings. The Falcons men moved from 17th to fifth thanks to a strong performance in the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem over the weekend.

Mount Olive: Senior Ben Veith has have been named the university’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Month for January. In addition, junior Adam Craig has been named Conference Carolinas Men’s Athlete of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.

UNC: Hayley Carter was named the ACC Player of the Week. The fifth-ranked singles player in the nation, Carter helped the Tar Heels defeat Texas Tech 4-0.

N.C. State: After an impressive victory over Oklahoma State’s No. 30 Lukas Finzelberg, freshman Alexis Galarneau has been named the ACC Player of the Week. Galarneau, who is ranked No. 103 in the latest ITA poll, downed the Cowboys’ highest ranked singles player from the second spot in the singles lineup with a decisive 6-1, 6-4 victory.

Elon: After six matches away from the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center to open the men’s season, the team will welcome Liberty on Wednesday, for a 2 p.m. match. The match is the first of four in a row at home for the Phoenix.

Mount Olive: Sophomore Ogulcan Deniz has been named Conference Carolinas Player of the Week on Tuesday. The honor is Deniz’s first of his career and the program’s first since Matt Finnerty earned the honor in March 2015.

UNC: Following season-opening wins, junior midfielder Marie McCool has been named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week. McCool tied her career high with six goals and set a career high with eight total points in the Tar Heels’ 16-14 win over James Madison on Saturday.

Elon: Junior Stephanie Asher was tabbed the CAA’s first conference Player of the Week of the season on Tuesday. Asher led the Phoenix to a 15-5 victory over Campbell on Saturday, in team’s season opener. The attacker netted five goals and picked up a team-high four draw controls in the win over the Camels.

N.C. State: Andreas Vazaios was named the ACC Co-Men’s Swimmer of the Week after a pair of first-place and second-place finishes at the Janis Hape Dowd Carolina College Nike Invitational last weekend. Ryan Held and Maddie Witzke were named CollegeSwimming.com’s Conference Swimmers of the Week.

Duke: Alex Peña has been named the ACC Co-Male Swimmer of the week, and Anna Quinn has been tabbed the ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Week after their performances at the Janis Hape Dowd Carolina College Nike Invitational.

Duke/UNC: Duke hosts Tobacco Road foe North Carolina Wednesday night in Card Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. dual. Duke and North Carolina are wrestling for the 92nd time in the programs’ histories. The Tar Heels have dominated the action, leading 66-25.

Campbell: Playing in a field that included seven schools ranked among the nation’s top 50, the Camels (296-285-294—875) finished 10th Tuesday in the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley. The team returns to Sawgrass Country Club Feb. 24-26 for The Haydt, one of the East Coast’s premier collegiate events.

ECU: The Pirates finished in 12th place at the 15-team Sea Best Invitational on Tuesday. The Pirates shot a 54-hole total of 46-over-par 886 (294-294-298) at TPC at Sawgrass. The Pirates return to the links Feb. 24-26 at the Sawgrass Country Club and compete in The Hayt.

Campbell: The Camels will hold their first practice at Jim Perry Stadium on Wednesday.

Raleigh Sports Club: Radio sports show host David Glenn will be the guest speaker on Wednesday. Glenn now hosts The David Glenn Show, one of the largest regionally syndicated sports radio programs in the nation, heard on 25-plus AM/FM signals in more than 200 cities and towns across North Carolina, plus parts of South Carolina and Virginia. Glenn is the Founding Editor of ACCSports.com and the ACC Sports Journal, which over its 38-year existence has become the best-selling college sports magazine in history.

Meetings are held in Bradley Hall at Highland United Methodist Church, 1901 Ridge Rd., Raleigh, at the corner of Lake Boone Trail, just inside the I-440 Beltline.

From news releases

This story was originally published February 7, 2017 at 11:30 PM with the headline "College Notebook."