Emily Yergin ’20, is young, but she already understands the power of perseverance through her athletic experience.
As a sophomore soccer player at Kettle Run High School in Fauquier County, Virginia, Yergin tore both her anterior cruciate ligaments, injuries which required four months of physical therapy for recovery. She was then re-injured as she returned to play with her travel soccer team, FCSC Fever. Ultimately, she spent a total eight to nine months in physical therapy.
Even though she dealt with such setbacks, she continued to play soccer and learned about Shenandoah University from a few of her teammates, who planned to attend the school. Their conversations piqued her interest, and Yergin, who also played varsity basketball at Kettle Run and maintained a 3.8 GPA, decided that Shenandoah was the right university for her.
Yergin, a sport management student in the Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business, has revealed the depth of her intrinsic passion for sports, which isn’t necessarily shared by the rest of her family. Her parents aren’t athletic and her brother is a lawyer. However, they’re all very proud of Yergen’s accomplishments, which are many. Yergin led Shenandoah and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) this season with 21 goals and eight assists for 50 points. Six of her goals were game-winners. She was named first-team All-ODAC, ODAC and Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID) Rookie of the Year and to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s third team All-South Region. She is the first Shenandoah women’s soccer player to earn VaSID Rookie of the Year accolades.