MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis women’s soccer goalkeeper Elizabeth Moberg and baseball third baseman Alec Trela have been named a Sport-Scholar Athlete of the Year by the American Athletic Conference. Chosen by the AAC’s faculty athletics representatives, it is the third consecutive year that at least two Tigers have earned this award for his or her respective sport.
Trela, who also won the Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award, is the first Tigers baseball player to garner Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Moberg is the third consecutive Memphis student-athlete to take home Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as she follows Stasia Mallin and Lizzie Woerner who each earned such honors in the last two years respectively.
Both Moberg and Trela will receive a $2,000 scholarship from the league office that can be applied to graduate or professional studies. Trela will also receive a $5,000 scholarship attached to his Commissioner’s Postgraduate Leadership Award.
Moberg, who graduated in Fall 2019 with a degree in integrative studies and is in graduate school, is a four-time AAC All-Academic Team member. The Tigers’ starting goalkeeper was named 2019 United Soccer Coaches Third Team Scholar All-America and 2019 United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-Region. Her athletic honors include 2019 First Team All-South Region, 2019 AAC Goalkeeper of the Year, 2019 First Team All-Conference, 2018 Second Team All-Conference, and she is a seven-time AAC Goalkeeper of the Week. Moberg ranks second in program history with 45 wins, first in Goalkeeper Goals Allowed Average (0.73), second in shutouts (33), and fourth in goalkeeper minutes played (5,402). Last season, Moberg started all 12 of Memphis’ games and allowed just 10 goals in more than 1,085 minutes with a GAA of 0.83.
Trela, who became just the fifth Memphis athlete in program history to win the Commissioner’s Award, was a 2021 candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. The Tigers’ third baseman is a four-time AAC All-Academic Team member, two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, and has earned Dean’s List and Tiger 3.0 honors for every semester while at UofM. Named to the 2020 AAC Preseason All-Conference Team, Trela has started 243 games for the Tigers and finished last season second on the team in home runs, Slugging %, and runs scored.
In addition to his achievements on the field and in the classroom, Trela has volunteered with Mid-South Mission of Mercy, which offers free dental cleanings for under-served and under-insured people living in the Memphis and Mid-South area. He has also spent time at the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis, participated in the Step UP Walk for Down Syndrome, and joined his teammates for Mustache March.
