Samantha Anderson Named 2017 Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year
Southland Conference
FRISCO, Texas – Central Arkansas’ Samantha Anderson is the 2017 Southland Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Monday along with its all-academic teams. All yearly awards are presented by
Ready Nutrition.
Anderson, now a two-time Southland All-Academic selection, was selected for the top distinction, earning her second conference accolade after being named the Player of the Year in November. The right side from Tyler, Texas, is an elementary education major who currently holds a 3.90 GPA. This season she was the only player to finish in the league’s top 10 for hitting percentage (3rd – .331) and kills per set (6th – 3.35). The performance came in a season that saw the Sugar Bears win the Southland Tournament and become the first conference team to win a set at the NCAA Tournament since 2006.
She is one of three UCA players named to the all-academic teams, joining three-time all-academic selection Megan Nash on the first team and Elizabeth Armstrong on the second team. Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi also each garnered a trio between the teams. The Lady Jacks earned first-team distinctions in automatic selections Haley Coleman and Ann Hollas while Lexus Cain earned a spot on the second team. Hollas is the only Southland student-athlete to be recognized as a CoSIDA All-District and All-American selection. The Islanders are represented by automatic selections Brittany Gilpin and Kristyn Nicholson on the first team, and Madison Green on the second team.
Houston Baptist, Northwestern State and Sam Houston State each claimed two automatic selections on the first team. Abilene Christian, McNeese and New Orleans each had one player selected to the second team.
All 12 picks to the All-Academic First Team were automatic selections. Eleven Southland All-Conference First Team members claimed spots while Hollas was the lone Southland player to be named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.
Between the two teams, three players boast a perfect 4.00 GPA: Hollas, Green and McNeese graduate student-athlete Adison Giambrone.
Three players are making their third appearance on the Southland all-academic teams in Nash, Gilpin and Sam Houston’s Jordyn Vaughn. Seven players are making their second appearance: Anderson, HBU’s Bailey Banks, Coleman, Sam Houston’s Taylor Cunningham, Northwestern State’s Channing Burleson, ACU’s Jacey Smith and Cain.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member universities, voted for the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to the one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic advisors from each Southland Conference university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.
CoSIDA Academic All-District/All-American selections and First Team All-Conference athletes who meet all-academic nomination criteria are automatically named First Team All-Academic.
2017 Southland Conference Volleyball All-Academic Teams
| First Team |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Samantha Anderson^1, 2 |
Central Arkansas |
Jr. |
Tyler, Texas |
3.90 |
Elementary Education |
| Bailey Banks1, 2 |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
Missouri City, Texas |
3.68 |
Marketing |
| Haley Coleman1, 2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Jr. |
Rockwall, Texas |
3.96 |
Kinesiology |
| Brittany Gilpin1, 3 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Houston, Texas |
3.50 |
Psychology |
| Kristyn Nicholson1 |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Lewisville, Texas |
3.22 |
Marketing |
| Reagan Rogers1 |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Blanco, Texas |
3.73 |
Hospitality Management |
| Taylor Cunningham1, 2 |
Sam Houston State |
Jr. |
Huntsville, Texas |
3.82 |
Accounting |
| Jordyn Vaughn1,3 |
Sam Houston State |
Sr. |
Huntsville, Texas |
3.64 |
Accounting |
| Megan Nash1,3 |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
Oakville, Ontario, Canada |
3.96 |
Exercise Science |
| Channing Burleson1, 2 |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Midland, Texas |
3.80 |
Nursing |
| Jessica Wooten1 |
Houston Baptist |
Sr. |
Humble, Texas |
3.30 |
Marketing |
| Ann Hollas#% |
Stephen F. Austin |
So. |
Longview, Texas |
4.00 |
Biology |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Second Team
Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Madison Green |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
So. |
Dripping Springs, Texas |
4.00 |
Biology |
| Kaitlyn Grice |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Valrico, Fla. |
3.95 |
Pre-Medicine |
| Jacey Smith2 |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
Wimberley, Texas |
3.95 |
Kinesiology |
| Adison Giambrone |
McNeese |
Gr. |
Richmond, Texas |
4.00 |
Business Management |
| Lexus Cain2 |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Amarillo, Texas |
3.25 |
Information Technology |
| Elizabeth Armstrong |
Central Arkansas |
So. |
League City, Texas |
3.08 |
Undecided |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
^2017 Southland Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year
1All-Conference First Team selection
2Two-time all-academic selection
3Three-time all-academic selection
#CoSIDA Academic All-District
%CoSIDA Academic All-America