KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Western Michigan senior men's soccer players Zach Bock and Brandon Bye have both been named Academic All-Americans by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The pair become the first ever Academic All-Americans in WMU men's soccer history.

Bock was a Second Team All-American after maintaining a 3.98 GPA in sales and business marketing. Bye was selected to the Third Team and carries a 3.74 GPA as a double major in food & consumer marketing and supply chain management. 

Team captains, Bock and Bye led Western Michigan to unprecedented success in 2017. The Broncos won their first ever Mid-American Conference regular season championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where the team was given a first round bye. WMU went on to defeat UAlbany in the second round for the school's first ever NCAA Tournament win and advanced to the Sweet 16 before eventually falling to Michigan State.

The Broncos finished the season with a 17-4-1 overall record and went undefeated during the MAC season with a perfect 5-0-0 record. WMU was ranked in the United Soccer Coaches top 25 poll for 10 consecutive weeks, reaching as high as No. 4, and spent six weeks ranked inside the top 10. WMU set program records for most wins and shutouts in a season.

Bock has been a four-year starter for Western Michigan and anchored a Bronco defense that totaled 14 shutouts this season. He also scored one goal, the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over LIU-Brooklyn, and had one assist. Bye became the first Bronco ever to earn MAC Player of the Year honors after leading the conference with 12 goals and seven assists for 31 points. He scored five game-winning goals which ranks sixth most in the nation. He set a new WMU record for shots in a season with 91 and ranked fifth in the nation for shots per game and shots on goal per game.

Both Bock and Bye were First Team All-MAC recipients and were named First Team All-Great Lakes Region by the United Soccer Coaches, placing them on the ballot for All-American status, based on athletic performance.