Nov. 20, 2012
St. LOUIS -- Four Missouri State volleyball players were honored Tuesday by the Missouri Valley Conference for their performance on the court and in the classroom. Juniors Andrea Beaty and Ashley Mason appear on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team and sophomores Olivia Brand and Kaitlin Jaeger are honorable mention selections following a vote of the league's sports information directors.
Sixty-four MSU volleyball players have earned MVC Scholar-Athlete honors in the 21 years since the award's inception in 1992, including 51 in the 17 seasons under head coach Melissa Stokes.
Beaty makes the first team on the strength of a 3.93 cumulative grade point average in Psychology. The Saint Louis University transfer averages 2.49 kills and 1.04 blocks per set on .236 hitting for the year, improving those numbers to 2.60/1.06/.256 in MVC matches. The MVC Player of the Week Nov. 19, Beaty has led MSU in blocking 15 times and kills nine times, both leading the team. A native of Pacific, Mo., Beaty has 978 career kills between MSU and SLU.
Mason is a repeat first-team selection with a 3.90 GPA in Business Education. The junior has 533 digs so far in 2012, good for sixth in school history, and ranks fourth in career dig average (3.78/set) and 12th in total digs (1,144). The Granby, Mo., product has recorded at least 10 digs in 29 of MSU's 30 matches, leading the Bears 22 times while surpassing the 20-dig mark on 10 occasions.
Brand closed the season with 52 kills in her final three matches and averaged 2.66 kills for the year to rank second on the team. The sophomore from Springfield had career highs of 23 kills and six blocks Nov. 9 at Wichita State to earn MVC Player of the Week honors, and has recorded at least 10 kills in 13 matches this year while leading the Bears five times. Brand has a 3.74 GPA in Child and Family Development.
Jaeger ranks fourth in the MVC in hitting percentage (.326) and third in league matches (.338). The Webb City, Mo., native has 211 kills and 69 blocks on the season despite missing several matches with an injury, and averages 2.45 kills and 0.80 blocks per set. Jaeger, who carries a 3.77 GPA in Political Science, has two matches this season with at least 13 kills and no errors, including a 14-0-18 performance for a .778 attack efficiency against New Orleans.
A total of 42 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).
First Team
Andrea Beaty, Missouri State
Megan Bober, Creighton
Brooke Boggs, Creighton
Amy Braun, UNI
Rachael Brown, Southern Illinois
Elizabeth Field, Wichita State
Shelby Kintzel, UNI
Ashley Mason, Missouri State
Alysia Mayes, Southern Illinois
Ashley Ring, Evansville
Macy Ubben, UNI
Bailey Yeager, Southern Illinois
Honorable Mention
Emily Adney, Wichita State
Olivia Brand, Missouri State
Jackie Church, Wichita State
Shea Doran, Indiana State
Madelyn Ervin, Bradley
Chelsey Feekin, Wichita State
Brooklyn Hlafka, Illinois State
Kaitlin Jaeger, Missouri State
Megan Lehman, UNI
Sarah Madden, Drake
Molly Murphy, Indiana State
Amanda Platte, Drake
Jenny Willms, UNI
