Leite, Burrowes named Applebee's Student-Athlete of the Month for September

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University goalkeeper Nicolas Leite and outside hitter Emiah Burrowes have been named the Applebee's Student-Athletes of the Month for September.

Leite earned four shutouts in nine starts to help the Pioneers to a 5-3-1 record during September. He opened the season with a streak of 359 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, including shutout wins over Lees-McRae (1-0), Barton (3-0) and King (3-0), all on the road. Leite had a season-high nine saves against Catawba on Sept. 23.

For the month, the Santo Andre, Brazil native conceded just six goals in 791 minutes, 16 seconds of playing time and ended September ranked second in the South Atlantic Conference in goals against average (0.68), saves (38) and save percentage (.864) while ranking third in shutouts with four. He was also twice honored by the SAC as the conference Defensive Player of the Week in helping the Pioneers reach as high as 23rd in the United Soccer Coaches Division II national rankings.

Burrowes, a graduate student from Wesley Chapel, North Carolina, averaged 3.16 kills and 2.63 digs per set in her 14 matches which included 49 sets played. She helped the Pioneers to a 9-5 start to the season including 5-2 in South Atlantic Conference through the first month of the season.

She accounted for double-digit kills on nine occasions in September including a stretch of six matches in a row from Sep. 9-26. During that span she also accounted for three double-doubles. She recorded 16 kills and 18 digs in a five-set win at Mars Hill on Sep. 19. She tallied 15 kills in a home win over UVA Wise (Sep. 5) and posted 14 kills each against Emory & Henry (Sep. 6), Florida Tech (Sep. 9), Carson-Newman (Sep. 15) and Lincoln Memorial (Sep. 26). Her best hitting game of the season came in the 3-0 sweep over LMU as she posted a .400 attack percentage. She was also named to the Rollins All-Tournament Team.

During the month, Burrowes totaled 155 kills, 13 service aces, 129 digs, 14 blocks and was responsible for 176.0 points. On the season, she leads the team in kills per set (3.31 – 5^th in SAC) and total kills (172 – 6^th in SAC). Her 0.27 service aces per set average is sixth-best in the conference.  

The Tusculum Student-Athlete of the Month Award is sponsored by Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar of Greeneville.  The Applebee's Student-Athlete of the Month Award honors one male and one female student-athlete each month from an in-season sport during the 2023-24 academic year, recognizing their hard work, effort and performance.

2023-24 Applebee's Student-Athletes of the Month