BALTIMORE, Md. – The Notre Dame of Maryland's second annual Giving Day is just one week away and alumnae and alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends will have the opportunity to directly impact Notre Dame student-athlete population through the Gator Fund.

Leading up to Giving Day, the Department of Athletics would like to share a little bit about our student-athletes that are making a large impact both in the classroom and in their sport.

Today we highlight two freshmen that in just their first semesters in collegiate sports are making impressions both in their sport and earned recognitions for their work in the classroom. 
 
Freshman Alyssa Kerns joined the Notre Dame volleyball team in the fall of 2018 and quickly earned herself a starting spot as a middle hitter.  In her first season with the team, Kerns finished second in hitting percentage in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) and earned herself two postseason honors.  She was named the CSAC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-CSAC.  This was the second time the volleyball program earned the CSAC Rookie of the Year honor. 

Throughout the season, Kerns also earned three weekly CSAC honors being named CSAC Player of the Week, CSAC Defensive Player of the Week, and CSAC Honor Roll.  The Gators would go on to win the 2018 CSAC Volleyball Championship, a first CSAC championship for any sport at NDMU.

At the conclusion of the fall, Kerns earned one more CSAC honor: CSAC All-Academic, earning a 3.2 GPA or higher in the fall semester.  Kerns was one of eight student-athletes from volleyball team to be recognized.  She was also one of 10 student-athletes from the fall to earn both a CSAC postseason honor and be named All-Academic.

Kerns is a biology major at NDMU with various future aspirations.  She can see herself perusing a master's degree or going to medical school to become a future OB-GYN.  Although her first volleyball season has ended, she has continued her love of the sport coaching for Baltimore Elite, a local club volleyball program.  In just her first semester at Notre Dame she saw the value of staying busy, helping closely monitor her time between academics, athletics, and work.

 
Freshman Vanessa Dunn is Notre Dame Athletics lone three-sport student-athletes in the 2018-19 season.  In year's past, the Gators have had as many as five three-sport student-athletes and currently has more than 15 two-sport student-athletes.  Dunn, a valuable member of three sports at NDMU, is eager to help any way she can both on and off the field/court. 

Dunn, as member of the field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse teams made large contributions to her teams in just her first season.  For the field hockey team, she was named First Team All-CSAC, finishing second in the conference in shots per game and tied for second on NDMU for goals with six.  She also notched a CSAC Weekly Honor Roll nod during the fall.

With three games remaining in the basketball regular season, Dunn is averaging 8.2 points per game which is good for 22^nd in the CSAC and is second in made three-pointer for the Gators with 40.  Dunn will complete her three seasons of sports in the spring as she will make her lacrosse debut in March.

This year Dunn has also made an impression in the classroom being recently named to the CSAC All-Academic team.  She was one of the fall-leading, nine members from the field hockey team to earn All-Academic status.  As Morrissy Honors Student, Dunn was also one of the 74% of the honorees majoring in a science at Notre Dame, majoring in physics. 

Similar to many of the student-athletes at NDMU, Dunn feels that playing many sports has helped her get accustomed to college life by forcing her to balance all of her activities and academics.  In the future, Dunn would like to work in the bio-medical field, helping to develop prosthetics. 

The future of Notre Dame athletics looks bright with student-athletes like Alyssa Kerns and Vanessa Dunn paving the way.  Check back tomorrow as we highlight two more student-athletes, both sophomores playing on two teams at NDMU.