Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Volleyball lands three on MVC Scholar-Athlete Teams
11/24/2009 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 24, 2009
www.SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Thirteen Missouri Valley Conference volleyball student-athletes have been named to the 2009 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team by a vote of the league's volleyball sports information directors and 10 additional student-athletes have earned honorable mention, the league office announced today.
SIU's Jennifer Berwanger and Alicia Johnson earned first-team honors and Lauren Blumhorst was named honorable mention.
This year's first team includes 10 players that have received previous MVC volleyball scholar-athlete recognition, including five repeat first team honorees and one unanimous selection, Southern Illinois' Berwanger (3.86 GPA, Therapeutic Recreation & Physical Therapy).
The first team also includes Jessica Houts and Allie Oelke of Creighton, Angela Bys of Drake, Tabitha Visk of Illinois State, Whitney Fromm and Kelli Whitaker of Indiana State, Melissa Gmur and Cara Hackmann of Missouri State, Beth Discher of UNI and Mary Elizabeth Hooper and Emily Stockman of Wichita State.
Three Valley first team scholar-athletes - Berwanger, Hackmann and Visk - were also members of their respective ESPN The Magazine/CoSida Academic All-District Teams.
Forty-two student-athletes were nominated for the Valley's scholar-athlete team. The criterion for the honor parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular-season matches. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore status in both athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.
Complete release attached as a PDF and also available online
MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE FIRST TEAM
Name, School, Year, Pos. • GPA, Major, Hometown
^Jennifer Berwanger, Southern Illinois, Jr., OH • 3.86, Therapeutic Rec. & Physical Therapy, Lake Zurich, Ill.
^Angela Bys, Drake, Jr., OH • 3.67, Secondary Education, Marion, Iowa
Beth Discher, UNI, Jr., OH • 3.89, Accounting, Grimes, Iowa
#Whitney Fromm, Indiana State, Jr., S • 3.95, Art, Snohomish, Wash.
Melissa Gmur, Missouri State, Jr., S • 3.89, Elementary Education,Central Point, Ore.
^Cara Hackmann, Missouri State, Jr., L • 3.84, Finance, Washington, Mo.
Mary Elizabeth Hooper, Wichita State, So., S • 3.69, Health Science, Plano, Texas
^Jessica Houts, Creighton, Sr., MB • 3.52, Exercise Science, Bloomington, Minn.
Alicia Johnson, Southern Illinois, Jr., RS • 3.91, Recreation Management, Tripoli, Iowa
Allie Oelke, Creighton, Jr., OH • 3.71, Elementary Education, Chanhassen, Minn.
^Emily Stockman, Wichita State, Sr., OH • 3.30, Exercise Science, Colorado Springs, Colo.
Tabitha Visk, Illinois State, Sr., MB • 4.00, Family & Consumer Science, Salem, Wis.
#Kelli Whitaker, Indiana State, Sr., OH • 4.00, Elementary Education, New Palestine, Ind.
MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE HONORABLE MENTION
Lauren Blumhorst, Southern Illinois, So., DS • 3.82, Math Education, Tripoli, Iowa
Michelle Burow, UNI, So., MB • 3.34, Finance, Lincoln, Neb.
Shelbi Fouty, Indiana State, So., S • 4.00, Pre-Elementary Education, Plainfield, Ind.
Kasey Mollerus, Illinois State, Sr., L • 3.44, Early Childhood Education, St. Charles, Mo.
Amy Reichel, Bradley, Sr., OH • 3.45, Advertising, Schaumburg, Ill.
Alicia Runge, Creighton, Jr., OH • 3.71, Organizational Communication, Swea City, Iowa
#%Sara Staubach, Missouri State, Jr., OH • 3.47, Dietetics, Cincinnati, Ohio
#Jodilynne Stoker, Indiana State, Jr., OH • 3.33, Physical Education/Exercise Science, Ames, Iowa
Kim Wadsworth, Wichita State, Sr., OH • 3.50, Business Admin./Biological Services, Andover, Kan.
Alana Wittenburg, Drake, Jr., L • 3.37, Health Sciences, Readlyn, Iowa
^ 2008 First-Team; # 2008 Honorable Mention; % 2007 Honorable Mention
