April 16, 2007

NEWARK, NJ - Cindy Bayiokos, a senior on the New Jersey Institute of Technology women's soccer team was honored as an all-Academic performer for the United Soccer Conference in voting conducted among the conference coaches.

Bayiokos, a resident of Staten Island, NY, was honored for combining prowess on the soccer field with academic excellence, maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.750, majoring in Science, Technology and Society at NJIT.

She is in her second year at New Jersey's Science & Technology University, having transferred to NJIT after two years at Saint Peter's College in Jersey City.

She was a captain of both NJIT teams she played for and she was the leading scorer of the 2006 Highlanders, netting five points on two goals and an assist. She started all 15 games in 2006, as NJIT faced an NCAA Division I schedule for the first time.

A defensive standout who played in the back and in midfield, she also played in all 17 games (16 starts) in 2005 for the school's first postseason qualifier (ECAC Division II Tournament). In 2005, she had a goal and two assists.

In her two years at Division I Saint Peter's, she was a team captain as a sophomore and was honored on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference all-Academic team.

The daughter of Patricia and Sam Bayiokos, she is a graduate of St. Joseph by the Sea High School on Staten Island. By transferring to NJIT, she was a two-year teammate of her younger sister, Amanda, who will be a senior for the 2007 Highlanders.

The United Soccer Conference, which admitted NJIT as its sixth member institution, also includes: Delaware State, Howard, Longwood, South Carolina State and Utah Valley State.