C-USA Volleyball All-Academic Team Announced
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2009
IRVING, Texas - Four seniors, five juniors, one sophomore and a redshirt freshman were named to the 2009 Conference USA All-Academic Team, as selected by the league's Sports Information Directors for women's volleyball. The all-academic team consists of student-athletes who have earned a 3.2 cumulative grade point average or better and are a starter or key reserve on their team.
Leading the 11-member squad is three-peat selection Christine Bach of Memphis. Bach is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Memphis and owns a perfect 4.0 GPA. The Dresden, Germany native graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in international business last May and is a three-year recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and C-USA Academic Medal. After serving as libero for the Tigers the last two years, Bach transitioned to the setter position this season. She leads Memphis with 10 double-doubles and is the only tiger to ever record three 30-plus dig outings. Memphis' Becky Shaffer also earned All-Academic accolades with a 4.0 GPA in chemistry and biochemistry.
Rice landed a league-best three picks to the all-academic team, including repeat selection Tracey Lam. For the second consecutive year, the junior was voted the C-USA Libero of the Year, marking just the third time in league history an individual has repeated this honor. The junior also collected All-C-USA first team honors this season and sports a school-record 1,602 career digs, a figure that ranks eighth best in the C-USA annals. Lam owns a 3.68 GPA as an economics and Asian studies major with a minor in business.
The senior outside hitting duo of Jessica Boulavsky and Jenn McClean also represent Rice on the All-Academic team. Boulavsky is a two-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI first team selection and owns a 4.0 GPA in psychology and pre-med. The Houston, Texas native was named the 2009 Rice Scholar-Athlete of the Year and earned a spot on the Mizuno Invitational All-Tournament Team earlier this season. McClean is an economics major with a minor in business and carries a 3.83 GPA. She is co-captain for the Owls' and ranks first on the team in double-doubles with 11.
Elizabeth Fleming of Marshall returned to the all-academic squad with a 4.0 GPA in international business. The junior setter was named to the All-C-USA second team this season and ranks second in C-USA with 11.22 assists per set.
Representing the Green Wave for the second consecutive year is junior Lindsey Shepard. The middle blocker leads the Tulane defense in total blocks (89), solo blocks (16), block assists (73) and blocks per set (0.97). The Albuquerque, N.M., native is a two-year member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll while studying biomedical engineering and maintaining a 3.87 GPA.
Lauren Sears helped Southern Miss capture its first regular season title and earn the No. 1 seed to the C-USA Volleyball Championship. She is the only sophomore to land on the all-academic team and sports a 4.0 GPA in mathematics. The middle blocker is third on the Golden Eagles' squad in total blocks (70) and was named to the Samford and South Alabama All-Tournament teams.
Tulsa's Jennifer Eichler earned a slot on the all-academic team after being named the 2009 C-USA Co-Player of the Year. The senior was also placed on the All-C-USA first team and ranks third in C-USA in points per set (4.35). Eichler owns a 3.57 GPA as a psychology major.
Rounding out the 2009 C-USA Volleyball All-Academic Team are UAB's Andrea Lalic and Cassandra Burruel of UTEP. Lalic is a civil engineering student who also minors in mathematics. She owns a 3.55 GPA and is a member of the Student-Athlete National Honor Society. The senior outside hitter leads the UAB attack this season with a career-best 2.90 kills per set and was named to the War Eagle Invitational All-Tournament Team earlier this season at Auburn.
Burruel earned a spot on the all-academic team as a redshirt freshman. The biology major carries a 3.69 GPA and was honored at the 2009 Fall UTEP Honors Convocation. She ranks fourth in C-USA and first on the Miners squad in blocks averaging 1.12 per set.
The 2009 C-USA Volleyball Championship opens today at the newly renovated Tudor Fieldhouse on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Eight teams will battle it out for the tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Quarterfinal matches begin at 12 p.m. CST today with semifinal matches scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. CT tomorrow. The title game is slated for 1 p.m. CT Sunday, Nov. 22 and will be televised by CBS College Sports.
2009 C-USA Volleyball All-Academic Team
NAME-SCHOOL-YEAR-GPA-MAJOR
*Elizabeth Fleming-Marshall-Junior-4.00-International Affairs
**Christine Bach-Memphis-R-Junior-4.00-MBA
Becky Shaffer-Memphis-Junior-4.00-Chemistry-Biochemistry (Minor: Sociology & Spanish)
Jessica Boulavsky-Rice-Senior-4.00-Psychology/Pre-Med
*Tracey Lam-Rice-Junior-3.68-Economics, Asian Studies (Minor: Business)
Jenn McClean-Rice-Senior-3.83-Economics (Minor: Business)
Lauren Sears-Southern Miss-Sophomore-4.00-Mathematics
*Lindsey Shepard-Tulane-Junior-3.87-Biomedical Engineering
Jennifer Eichler-Tulsa-Senior-3.57-Psychology
Andrea Lalic-UAB-Senior-3.55-Civil Engineering (Minor: Mathematical)
Cassandra Burruel-UTEP-R-Freshman-3.69-Biology (Biomedical Track)
*Repeat Selection