SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Four Southern Conference volleyball student-athletes earned spots on the Google Cloud Academic All-District Volleyball Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).The program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
Chattanooga sophomore libero Megan Kaufman, Samford senior outside hitter Krista Boesing, UNCG senior setter Allison Penner and Western Carolina sophomore outside hitter Abigal Viet were recognized. Kaufman,Penner and Veit made the District 3 squad (NC, TN, VA), while Boesing was one of eight selections from District 4 (AL, FL, GA, PR, SC).
A Liberty Twp., Ohio native, Kaufman holds a perfect 4.0 GPA as a Nursing major at UTC. She leads the team this season with 305 total digs and carries a team-best 3.35 digs per set average, which ranks ninth in the Southern Conference. Kaufman is the first Moc to receive the all-district volleyball honor since Sarah Batterton in 2015. She is also one of only 25 student-athletes on the all-district teams to carry a 4.0 or better GPA.
Boesing has maintained an impressive 3.978 grade-point average in communication sciences and disorders at Samford. She is a three-time member of the Southern Conference's Academic Honor Roll, and she has been named to the Academic All-Conference team twice.
On the court, Boesing leads the SoCon in total kills (447) and ranks third in the league in kills per set (3.66). The first-team all-conference posted double-digit kills in 23 matches this season.
In 2017, Penner earned second team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors for her performance on the court and in the classroom this season. This season, Penner recorded 804 assists, 262 digs, 68 kills, 21 blocks and 14 services and in her career, Penner recorded 4,302 assists, an average of 10.10 assists, 1,115 digs, 2.62 digs per set, 176 blocks, 0.41 blocks per set and 71 services aces 0.17 service aces per set.
The Aurora, Neb., native became the second student-athlete in school history to record her 4,000th career assist earlier this season and the following match, she recorded her 1,000th career dig.
A junior from Cary, N.C., Veit boasts a 3.97 cumulative grade point average while majoring in management. She was named to the 2017 SoCon Fall Academic All-Conference team and was also a 2016-17 SoCon Honor Roll and Commissioner’s Medal recipient following her freshman year. On the court, Veit ranks second on the WCU team in kills with 249. She has recorded double-digit kills in 13 of the squad’s matches this season. With 277 digs, she is third on the Catamount squad averaging 2.74 digs per set and has tallied 28 total blocks. Combined, Veit has eight double-doubles performances this season.
Veit is just the third Catamount volleyball player to earn Academic All-District honors and the first since 2002.
First team Academic All-District® recipients advance to the Google Cloud Academic All-America® ballot. First, second and third team (if applicable) honorees will be announced in early December.
To be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must contribute on the court, carry a 3.3 grade-point-average and be in at least the third semester of academics at their respective institution.