St. LOUIS -- Missouri State's Emily Butters became the fifth player in school history to earn MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honors three times, it was announced Tuesday following a vote of the league's volleyball sports information directors. 

Butters, who owns a 3.92 cumulative grade point average as an exercise and movement science major, leads the Bears and ranks third in the MVC with 5.02 digs per set on the year, including 5.16 in league matches. She has led the Bears 28 times, with at least 10 digs in 30 of 31 matches.

The senior libero from Richmond, Texas, owns nearly every digs record at Missouri State, with her 2,450 career digs placing her third in MVC and 20th in NCAA history. She also owns the season mark of 737 total digs and 5.80 per set from her All-American junior season, averages an MSU-record 4.82 per set for her career, and also owns MSU highs for matches with 10 digs (126), 20 digs (51), and 30 digs (6). Additionally, Butters has played in every set of her career, ranking fourth MSU history with 508 total, and 10th in NCAA history for consecutive sets.

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
Emily Butters, Missouri State
Katherine Carlson, Valparaiso
Cathryn Cheek, Drake
Rylee Cookerly, Valparaiso
Erica Haslag, Bradley
Allison Ketcham, Valparaiso
Ali Line, Illinois State
Alex Nunez, Loyola
Courtney Pence, Illinois State
Kendyl Sorge, UNI
Rachel Tam, Evansville
Piper Thomas, UNI

Honorable Mention
Brittany Anderson, Valparaiso
Hannah Angeli, Bradley
Sydney Bronner, Valparaiso
Natalie Fry, Drake
Kathryn Graf, Bradley
Morgan Greshman, Loyola
Laura Gross, Indiana State
Yavianliz Rosado, Bradley
Alissa Schovanec, Bradley
Jade York, Indiana State