Three Missouri State volleyball players were honored Tuesday by the Missouri Valley Conference for their performance on the court and in the classroom.
Cara Hackmann,
Terri Del Conte 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, sophomore middle hitter Hackmann carries a 3.95 grade point average in real estate and averages 2.59 kills, 2.80 digs and 0.86 blocks per set this season. A native of Washington, Mo., Hackmann broke a 23-year-old school record by hitting .882 in a match against IPFW on Sept. 12 and was named the MVC Player of the Week on Sept. 15.
A senior from Long Beach, Calif., Del Conte earned an honorable mention nod and is the team’s leader with 552 digs and a 4.42 per set average. Those totals rank third and fifth for a single season in MSU history, while Del Conte currently ranks second in career digs per set average, just .003 behind the leader. The libero carries a 3.36 GPA in marketing management and has reached double figures in digs for 21 straight matches.
Staubach, a junior outside hitter from Cincinnati, Ohio, is a repeat selection to the honorable mention squad. She leads the team with 2.89 kills per set and 353 total kills. The dietetics major has a 3.47 GPA and has led Missouri State in kills 20 times this season. She has committed three or fewer attack errors in over half (17-32) of MSU’s matches and has topped the .300 mark 12 times on the way to a .235 hitting figure for the year.
A total of 47 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.
