From now until Jan. 1, the Carson-Newman Athletic Communications Department will debut the Frosty Award nominees for the fall semester. Here are the fall nominees for Team of the Year. Tuesday, the nominees for Comeback of the Year will be released.
The third annual Frosty Awards will take place in April and honor athletic excellence in Carson-Newman's athletic department.
- Coach of the Year
- Team of the Year
- Comeback of the Year
- Male Freshman of the Year
- Female Freshman of the Year
- The Plays of the Fall
- Male Newcomer of the Year
- Female Newcomer of the Year
- Female Performance of the Year
- Male Performance of the Year
- Game of the Year
- Male Athlete of the Year
- Female Athlete off the Year
Football: Carson-Newman football made it back to the NCAA playoffs for a 25th time after bouncing back from a 3-2 start. The Eagles finished second in the league and lost to Valdosta State 61-59 in an instant classic in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Carson-Newman placed a league high 11 selections on the All-SAC teams. Damian Baker earned all-American honors and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy as the nation's best player in Division II while Derek Evans brought home the Rimington Award for Division II's best center. Carson-Newman led all teams in all divisions with a whopping 56 rushing touchdowns – also a school record. The 2015 version of the Eagles also set school records for pass completions (122) and passing yards (2,040). Carson-Newman game within .2 yards per game of breaking the 2002 squad's record for yards of total offense per game. The Eagles finished with an average of 497.5 yards per contest.
Volleyball: The Carson-Newman volleyball team won the program's first-ever Southeast Region Championship with a four-set victory on Dec. 6th over Lenoir-Rhyne setting a program-record with 138 digs. The Eagles became just the second team in SAC history to win a Southeast Region title. The three wins in the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championships came in five sets, straight sets and four sets. With a 29-8 record, the Eagles won more matches (29) than any other SAC team for the first time since 2002 and just the second time in program history. The team won the second-most games in program history at 29 while picking up votes in the final AVCA Coaches' Poll for the first time. Volleyball matched the most successful season in South Atlantic Conference volleyball history taking a set against third-ranked Wayne State (Nebraska) in the National Quarterfinals.
Men's Soccer: The Carson-Newman men's soccer team won the program's ninth South Atlantic Conference regular season title with a share of the 2015 crown with Wingate. The Eagles' ended the season with a 15-3-2 mark and an appearance in C-N's eighth NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. Nine Eagles were named to the various SAC All-Conference teams and senior defender Sindre Welo (Trondheim, Norway) was named the fifth All-American in school history. C-N led the SAC with 52 goals scored and 43 assists; each of those stats ranked 16 in Division II. Junior forward Tom Read (London, England) was third in the nation with 16 assists.
Women's soccer: The Carson-Newman women's soccer team won its first regular season title since 2010 and their first SAC Tournament since 2009. C-N also made its first appearance in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship since 2009. The regular season championship was the program's seventh and its SAC Championship was number five. Carson-Newman recorded the best turnaround in SAC history after the Eagles went from 3-14 in 2014. The 19 wins are the second-most in school history and just one off the 20 wins that the 2009 team achieved. Carson-Newman ended the season ranked 11th in the nation. Carson-Newman rallied off a school record 12 wins that stretched from a win against Lincoln Memorial on Oct. 7th to a win against Armstrong State in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship second round on Nov. 15th. Carson-Newman led the league in goals scored and shots. The Eagles also knocked off two ranked opponents with the first coming against Lenoir-Rhyne on Sept. 16th; the win over the Bears was the team's first win over a ranked foe since 2009.
