Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Three Salukis earn 2015 MVC Volleyball Scholar Athlete recognition
11/24/2015 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Three members of the Saluki volleyball team were recognized as MVC Scholar Athletes, the conference announced today. Senior Taylor Pippen was named First Team Scholar Athlete for the third consecutive year. Sophomores Andrea Estrada and Abby Barrow were each named to the Honorable Mention Scholar Athlete Team.
Taylor Pippen, while outstanding on the court, has also demonstrated her academic success this year and throughout her career. As an accounting major, expected to graduate in December, Pippen currently holds a 3.70 cumulative GPA. This year Pippen earned Academic All-District accolades, was a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award and was a recipient of the State Farm MVC Good Neighbor Award. Throughout her career, Pippen is a three-time First Team MVC Scholar Athlete and has been named to the Dean's List six times.
On the court, Pippen leads the Salukis and ranks third in the MVC and 31st in the NCAA for attack percentage at .394. She leads SIU in solo blocks with 15 and ranks second in the Valley for blocks per set with an average of 1.13. This season, Pippen has secured several spots in SIU's record books, holding all-time records for career attack percentage at .346, the all-time record for block assists with 420, and the all-time record for attack percentage in a single season at .410 in 2014.
After being named to the MVC All-Freshman team last season, Andrea Estrada has continued to make a name for herself in her sophomore season. As an art major, Estrada currently holds a 3.54 cumulative GPA and has been named to the Dean's List three times. This season, Estrada leads the Salukis with 401 kills on 1,027 attempts. She ranks fourth in the Valley with an average of 3.57 kills per set and 3.99 points per set. Estrada also has the second-most digs on the team this year, averaging 3.10 per set. She has 18 double-doubles this season and 28 in her career.
Abby Barrow has continued to find success in her second year as a Saluki as well. Last season Barrow was named to the MVC All-Tournament team and earned the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award. Barrow currently holds an impressive 3.90 cumulative grade point average as an exercise science major. This season, Barrow averages 2.78 kills per set with a .229 attack efficiency, and ranks tenth in the Valley with 2.88 kills per set against MVC opponents. Barrow adds to the Salukis' efforts with 61 digs and 40 blocks on the season.
Forty-six 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).
