Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Barrow, Viggars earn MVC Scholar-Athlete honors
11/22/2016 | 11:41:00 | Women's Volleyball
Barrow named to MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honors, while Viggars earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention recognition.
ST. LOUIS – Southern Illinois junior outside hitter Abby Barrow has been named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team while senior setter/hitter Meg Viggars earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention honors, the league announced Tuesday.
It marks the fifth-straight season that the Salukis have placed at least one on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, and have had at least one earn recognition as a MVC Scholar-Athlete in each of the 24 years that the award has been handed out.
Barrow has now earned inclusion on the MVC Scholar-Athlete team in back-to-back seasons, having been selected to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention team a year ago. An exercise science major at SIU, Barrow holds a 3.89 GPA and is averaging 2.78 kills, 0.74 digs and 0.46 blocks per set.
The Metamora, Ill. native has been one of SIU's most consistent hitters all season, as she has led the Salukis in kills during ten matches and has recorded double-digit kills in 15 matches, including a season-high 21 in SIU's five-set win over Northern Iowa. She recently recorded the 800th kill of her career, and could easily crack the top-10 in school history in the category before her career is over.
Viggars was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention team for the first time in her career after a season in which she led the team in assists (6.30/set), finished second in aces (.26/set) and fourth in both blocks (.81/set) and digs (1.85/set). One of the most versatile players in school history, Viggars holds a 3.46 GPA as a criminology and criminal justice major at SIU and will end her career ranked in the top-15 of sets played, matches played, digs, assists and block assists. She also tallied more than 800 career kills.
This season, the Stoke-on-Trent, England native recorded seven double-doubles, including the tenth triple-double of her career in SIU's win over Drake.
The criteria for the scholar-athlete team balloting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, have played at least 75-percent of a team's games, and must carry at least a 3.20 GPA (on a 4.0 scale).
The Salukis are back in action Thursday, Nov. 24 when they take on the Illinois State Redbirds in the opening round of the MVC Tournament. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
