LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced on Wednesday that East Stroudsburg University lacrosse graduate student Kayleigh Pokrivka has been named to the PSAC Spring Top 10.
The award honors five men and women among the 18 schools in the conference who excel in both the classroom and in athletic competition and is nominated and voted on by the league's sports information directors.
While being a full-time nurse at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Pokrivka led the Warrior defense with a tremendous graduate student season, ranking third nationally in caused turnovers per game and eighth in the country in ground balls per game. She was a major factor in ESU's defense leading the nation in ground balls per game, while the Warriors ranked third in caused turnovers per game and sixth in scoring defense among the 100-plus NCAA Division II women's lacrosse teams.
ESU advanced to its first-ever NCAA DII National Championship game in 2022 with after back-to-back dramatic 13-12 overtime victories, before suffering just its second loss of the season to the University of Indianapolis in the national title game by a score of 11-9.
She closes her Warrior career by starting in all 74 games she appeared in, causing 179 turnovers and scooping 232 ground balls. Among active career leaders among all three NCAA divisions, she ranks second in caused turnovers and third in ground balls.
A three-time All-PSAC and IWLCA All-Region First Team selection, Pokrivka garnered IWLCA All-America First Team accolades in 2022.
While being a full-time nurse during a pandemic, Pokrivka garnered a 3.92 GPA while obtaining her master's degree in health education. She previously posted a 3.62 GPA as an undergraduate nursing major at ESU. She
She becomes the just the third Warrior lacrosse student-athlete to be named to the PSAC Top 10 and is the first selection in 22 years, since Kristin Restivo was chosen in Spring 2000. Along with women's lacrosse, sports eligible for the PSAC Spring Top 10 include: outdoor track and field, softball, baseball, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's golf.
The York, Pa. product becomes the 60th Warrior overall to earn the honor since it was established during the 1997-98 academic year. This past January, Hannah Barbush (field hockey), Rece Bender (football) and Ali Finch (volleyball) were selected to the PSAC Fall Top 10.
Among the 18 institutions in the conference, ESU ranks fourth all-time in PSAC Top 10 selections (60), trailing just Shippensburg (75), Slippery Rock (73) and IUP (65).
PSAC SPRING TOP 10
Men
- Connor Bennink, Gannon
- Mike Ferrara, West Chester
- Connor Hamilton, Slippery Rock
- Samuel Hartman, Seton Hill
- Josh Surowiec, Mercyhurst
Women
- Divonne Franklin, California (Pa.)
- Karolin Kirtchtag, IUP
- Hannah Marsteller, Shippensburg
- Kayleigh Pokrivka, East Stroudsburg
- Charleigh Rondeau, Slippery Rock
