EASTON, Pa. - Seniors Brittany Blass and Cory Spera have been named the 2014 Maroon Club Scholar-Athletes of the Year. The duo will be honored during the Lafayette football game on Saturday afternoon.

Blass is a Biochemistry major who carries a 3.33 cumulative GPA. The senior has received the Athletic Bronze Award five times and earned the Athletic Gold Award in the spring of 2014, when she made the Dean's List. Blass has been a part of the Oaks Leadership Academy and SAAC throughout her time on College Hill.

The Mountain Top, Pa. native has been an All-Patriot League First Team selection during her first three seasons, including Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 2011. Blass was named Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014, and has accumulated seven Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors in her career. She earned a spot on the National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Mideast Region squad in 2012 and was tabbed to the second team in 2013.

"Brittany's leadership skills and work ethic are outstanding." said head field hockey coach Jennifer Stone. "She was nominated by her peers to be a captain her junior and senior years, however has arguably led the team since coming in her freshman year. She serves various departments throughout the college and also helps the athletic department in various facets. She is the quintessential example of a Lafayette student-athlete; she is a leader, and one who succeeds in the classroom, community, and on the field."

A right-handed pitcher and Biology major, Spera carries a 3.88 cumulative grade-point average, earning the Patriot League Baseball Scholar Athlete Award in 2014 and part of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll each of his first three seasons on College Hill. Spera, who has aspirations of attending medical school after graduation, volunteers as a Peer Mentor and a Gateway Ambassador, assisting first-year students to become acclimated to life at Lafayette. He is part of Lafayette's Oaks Leadership Academy, serves as a student representative on the Alcohol and Other Drugs Standing Committee and was a presenter for Lafayette's Leadership Education Committee seminar on The C's of Champion.

Spera was an All-Patriot League First Team selection in 2014, and received the Harold 'Moose' Hageman '39 Award for Most Valuable Lafayette Pitcher last season. He will serve as a team captain for the 2015 season and was a finalist for the Tom Walter College Baseball Inspiration Award in 2013.

"Cory embodies the ideal Lafayette Student-Athlete as evidenced by his achievement on the baseball field, in the classroom, and in our campus community," said head baseball coach Joe Kinney. "He has truly taken advantage of all that Lafayette has to offer as he moves towards graduation in the spring of 2015."