CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The Patriot League has selected Ashley Blanks, a 2015 Lehigh University graduate and goalkeeper for the women's soccer team, as its Sportsmanship Award winner for the 2014-15 academic year, the League announced on Wednesday.

The Patriot League Sportsmanship Awards are in their tenth year after being created to honor student-athletes that uphold the principles on which the League was founded - fairness, equality and excellence in academics and athletics. The awards are open to all Patriot League student-athletes and each of the ten Patriot League institutions is eligible to nominate a male and female for the award. Nominations are considered by the League's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to determine the recipient.

Blanks started 41 games during her four years with the Mountain Hawks and finished with a career 1.27 goals against average, a .791 save percentage and eight shutouts. A native of North Andover, Mass., Blanks was named to the Patriot League women's soccer Academic Honor Roll twice and was announced as a Bosey Reiter Leadership Cup recipient during Lehigh commencement ceremonies in May.

A common theme from coaches, teammates and administrators in support of Blanks' nomination is the great deal of respect she earned from those involved with the Lehigh women's soccer program on how she handled sharing the goalkeeper position after starting every game during her freshman season. One administrator noted that while either Blanks or junior Ani Nahapetian could have been strong candidates for the League's Goalkeeper of the Year Award, they sacrificed individual achievements and supported each other for the betterment of the team.

"Ashley was the more experienced goalkeeper but understood that Ani, while her direct competitor for the position, was also very talented and could help the team win," said Lehigh Women's Soccer Coach Eric Lambinus. "Ashley split time as a junior and senior yet worked every day to help the teammate who was taking away her own personal playing time. This isn't a typical situation and takes great sportsmanship to be successful."

Lambinus points out that putting together a successful soccer team is to develop the right team chemistry and have all of the members believe in the overall team goals. He said that Blanks exemplified this mindset and was considered a valuable leader by her teammates even when she wasn't playing. While some players may "shut it down or quit" after losing playing time to a younger player, Blanks worked even harder to earn more playing time in her final two seasons, according to Lambinus.

"Nobody is going to outwork her (Blanks) in practice, in the weight room and in every other aspect," said Lambinus. "It truly motivates every player on the team."

Blanks' nomination will now be forwarded on to the NCAA to be considered for the national sportsmanship honor.