Three Missouri State volleyball players were honored Tuesday by the Missouri Valley Conference for their performance on the court and in the classroom. Jamie Adams, Nikki Vandepopulier and Sara Staubach all appear on MVC Scholar-Athlete teams following a vote of the league’s sports information directors, it was announced by the league office Tuesday.
The Bears’ lone first-team selection, senior outside hitter Adams carries a 3.58 grade point average in entertainment management and leads the Bears with 423 kills and a 3.92 per game average. Her kills per game average currently ranks as the eighth best in Missouri State history, and her 423 kills rank 14th all-time for a single season. An honorable mention choice in 2006, the Liberty, Mo., native was also honored as the Praire Farms/MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Oct. 4.
A junior from Kansas City, Mo., Vandepopulier earned an honorable mention nod and is the team’s leader with 402 digs and a 3.98 per game average. The defensive specialist carries a 3.71 GPA in public relations, and her digs per game average sits as the seventh best total in school history.
Staubach, a sophomore outside hitter from Cincinnati, Ohio, is second on the team with 3.39 kills per game and third with 339 total kills. She is undecided on an academic major and has a 3.57 GPA through her first two semesters on campus. She has accumulated the top two offensive performances for MSU this season with 23 kills at Creighton (10/13) and 21 at Illinois State (9/22).
A total of 56 student-athletes were nominated for the Valley’s scholar-athlete team. The criteria 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 3.00 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 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.
