GOLDEN, Colo. – The Oredigger duo of Abby Tiesman and Jason Zobott was honored as the 2020 President's Senior Scholar-Athletes in a virtual ceremony last Thursday leading up to the Colorado School of Mines Commencement on Saturday.
 
Awarded annually, the prestigious accolade is given to one male and one female graduating student-athlete who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and the leadership qualities of an exemplary student-athlete. Tiesman claimed the award after four years as a middle hitter for the Mines volleyball team. Zobott's award caps a four-year career as center back for the Oredigger soccer team. Both individuals boast a plethora of academic and athletic honors that are laid out below.
 
Tiesman joined the Orediggers by way of Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Ill. She represented Mines for four years on the volleyball court while majoring in mechanical engineering and garnered extensive academic and athletic recognition. In 2019 alone, Tiesman was named AVCA First-Team All-America, AVCA South Central Region Player of the Year, AVCA First-Team All-Region, D2CCA First-Team All-Region, First-Team All-RMAC, RMAC Tournament MVP and that was just for her performance on the court.
 
Academically, Tiesman grabbed CoSIDA Academic All-District and RMAC First-Team All-Academic distinction. Overall, she is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree and three-time RMAC First-Team All-Academic award winner. Athletically, Tiesman's career features three-time AVCA All-American awards and three-time First-Team All-RMAC accolades. Her efforts in her senior year helped the Mines volleyball team win the 2019 RMAC Tournament as the Orediggers advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time ever in program history. Tiesman's name is listed 13 times in the Oredigger record book thanks to 1,211 kills and 356 blocks in her career. Furthermore, as part of her senior design project, Tiesman traveled to Uganda where she helped build a crop storage facility for farmers while also putting on a soccer camp and handing out athletic equipment donations from the Mines soccer and volleyball teams.
 
Zobott came to Colorado School of Mines from Lake in the Hills, Ill. He arrived as a graduate of Huntley High School to major in petroleum engineering and play soccer for the Orediggers. Since his first year in 2016, Zobott never missed a contest as he started every single game for Mines as a defender at center back. During his time in Golden, Zobott collected numerous awards for his performance on the field and his work in the classroom. Most recently – and arguably most impressively – the senior was named the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He earned the honor as the top-voted student-athlete among 6,864 men's soccer players in NCAA Division II thanks to his combined athletic and academic resume.
 
Additionally in 2019, Zobott was named RMAC Player of the Year, RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and RMAC Academic Player of the Year. Further accolades in his career include All-American status in 2018 and 2019, two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America, three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District, two-time RMAC Defensive Player of the year and many more. Zobott's efforts also helped Mines win three straight RMAC Championships for the first time in program history. His last season on the pitch featured a run to the NCAA Sweet 16 including a win over #1-ranked Azusa Pacific University on their home field. Zobott closes his career with eight goals and six assists as a defender while contributing to more than 50 shutouts for the Orediggers.
 
Tiesman and Zobott were not the only student-athletes honored as part of commencement. Track & field's Cierra DellaRova was the Metallurgical and Materials Engineering department's outstanding senior, and football's Scott Marshall earned the same honor for Economics & Business. Baseball's Walter Pennington was one of two seniors to win the William D. Waltman Award, presented to a graduate who has shown the utmost integrity, scholarship and citizenship in their collegiate career.
 
In total, 94 current and former Oredigger student-athletes earned degrees last Saturday with 71 individuals bringing home bachelor's degrees and 23 others claiming master's degrees. Thanks to 29 degree recipients in December, a total of 123 Mines student-athletes earned a silver diploma in the 2019-20 school year.
 
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