WALTHAM, Mass. – Former Bentley University field hockey standout Nicole Dion (Lunenburg/ Lunenburg HS), who received her Bachelor of Science degree last month, has been selected for the 2013 Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America® Women's At-Large first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

This is the second straight year that Dion has earned the prestigious honor. A year ago, she was voted to the third team.

Dion, a team captain, made the move from the front line to the midfield for the 2012 season, with the shift in position helping Bentley post an 11-8 record and earn an NCAA Division II tournament berth.  As a forward a year earlier, she recorded her second career 10-goal season, with her 22 points second best on the team.

Dion's list of honors included second-team All-Northeast-10 in 2011 and NE-10 Rookie of the Year in 2009. She was also a two-time Academic All-Northeast-10 honoree and qualified for the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Academic team all four years. This past season, she was recognized as an NFHCA Scholar of Distinction.

As solid as Dion was on the field, she was even better in the classroom, amassing a remarkable 3.93 grade point average while majoring in marketing and minoring in management. She put together four perfect semesters and graduated Summa Cum Laude as a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.

"Nicole had a great career at Bentley," said coach Jessica Spencer.  "Her leadership on and off the field will be very difficult to duplicate and she will be missed by her teammates and the coaching staff."

Bentley has had five Academic All-America selections thus far this year with Dion joining golfers Matt Michel (1st team men's at-large) and Dan McQueen (3rd team men's at-large), Weston Zeiner (1st team men's soccer) and Lauren Battista (1st team women's basketball). Still to be announced are the track and cross country teams.

Complete team