MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Southern Polytechnic State University men's soccer player Gabe Warner has been named as a 2013 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete after being recognized for the same accolades last year. To be eligible for NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must be at least a junior in academic status.

Warner, a 5-foot-9 defender from Grovetown, Ga., is a senior biology major with a 3.66 GPA who expects to receive his bachelor's degree at Southern Polytechnic in the spring. Last month, he was chosen to the 2013 SSAC All-Tournament Team, to the SSAC All-Academic Team for the second straight season and also represented Southern Poly on this year's SSAC Musco Lighting Champions of Character Team. Warner, the team captain, was the only member of the Hornets to start all 18 games this past season and has been a mainstay in the lineup since his arrival on campus in the fall of 2010. He started all 82 of SPSU's matches over the last four years and led Southern Poly in minutes played each of the past three campaigns.

The Hornets finished 10-6-2 overall in 2013, ending their streak of four consecutive appearances in the Sweet 16 and two in a row at the Elite Eight of the NAIA national tournament.