After winning the PacWest Academic Achievement Award, Point Loma had two student-athletes named PacWest Scholar-Athletes of the Year in their specific sports, as announced by the conference on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Cole Hillier (baseball) and Alexander Leischner (men's tennis) received the recognition, raising PLNU's total number of PacWest Scholar-Athlete honorees to 31 since joining the conference in 2012.
 
The award, which was voted on by the SIDs in the conference, combines a combination of academic and athletic excellence.
 
Both Hillier and Leischner were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Teams in their respective sports, and are the third players in their program's history to earn PacWest Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.
 
Hillier (3.91 GPA), an exercise & sports science major, pitched 41.0 innings out of the PLNU bullpen this season, striking out 49 batters and compiling a 2.20 ERA. The First Team All-PacWest selection also earned All-West Region Second Team honors from the NCBWA, D2CCA and ABCA.
 
This season he also became PLNU's all-time career saves leader, tallying nine saves, including six across multiple innings.
 
Leischner (4.0 GPA), a mathematics major, became the first PLNU Men's Tennis player to be named PacWest Player of the Year. The First Team All-PacWest honoree posted an 18-3 overall singles record and a 15-5 mark in doubles.
 
His successful spring season came after winning the ITA West Regional singles championship in the fall.
 
The duo will now be in contention to earn PacWest Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, with the hopes of becoming the first male Sea Lion to receive the recognition.