University of North Carolina Athletics
Senior Spotlight: Erin Cox
September 15, 2000 | Field Hockey
Sept. 15, 2000
Senior Erin Cox is preparing to enter a profession that surely frowns upon the sports she now plays, in which a small, hard ball comes perilously close to lots of vulnerable teeth. Cox, who will graduate with a degree in biology in May, plans to interview next month at several dental schools, one of which she hopes to attend next fall.
While maintaining grades that have earned her spots on the Deans' List and ACC Honor Roll, Cox has prepared for her future vocation by volunteering at UNC's dental clinic through Delta Delta Sigma, the campus dental fraternity.
Cox also devotes her time to working for the Matthew Kull Foundation, which honors the memory of her late boyfriend. Kull, a UNC lacrosse player, passed away in January after a battle with cancer. While he was hospitalized at Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, Cox and the Kull family discovered the need for better family accommodations-like cots and showers-at hospitals. The foundation is working to raise money to better those needs at Sloan-Kettering, then hopes to do the same at other research hospitals around the country. Cox helped stage a fundraising 5K run this summer in Delaware and hopes to hold one this spring in Chapel Hill.
"Erin has come through some adversity in the last year and to have her play so well this season and be such a good leader has been great for her and the team," UNC coach Karen Shelton says.
Because of Kull's illness, Cox took the spring semester off from school, but she returned rejuvenated in August. "It has been refreshing to come back and just have fun with field hockey," she says.
In her third year as a starter on the back line, she is tied for the team lead with three assists this season. She was second on the team last year with 10 and earned second-team All-South Region honors, as well as the team's Marjorie Moses Schwab Unsung Hero Award.
"Erin has come light years from her freshman year and has worked hard to become one of the premier defensive players in the country," Shelton says. "Watching her progress has been a great thrill."
