LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - For the first time since 2008 a UNLV player was named to the Capital One Academic All-District VIII Men's Soccer team, as Kyle Mellies was selected to the first team the organization of sports information directors (CoSIDA) announced on Thursday. Mellies becomes the first men's soccer player from UNLV to receive academic all-district honors since Danny Cruz in 2008, and will now advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America honors.

Mellies, a senior from Las Vegas, is the top defender for a UNLV squad off to its best year in almost 30 years. He has helped the Rebels post a WAC-best eight shutouts, while their shutout percentage has ranked in the top 20 all season long. Mellies has also found a way to contribute on offense as well this season, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with 10 points off four goals and two assists. That includes a game-winner in the final minutes at Bradley earlier this year. The second-team all-conference selection a season ago, Mellies has sparked the Rebels to a 12-3-1 mark overall, a first place record in the WAC at 6-1, and to a No. 1 ranking in the West Region.

He has earned academic all-conference honors for three straight years, 2011-12 in the MPSF and 2013 in the WAC. A civil engineering major, Mellies holds a 3.80 cumulative GPA.

Student-athletes must be in at least their second season, hold a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.30 and be a starter or important reserve to be eligible for the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District teams. District VIII is made up of schools in California, Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Utah.