Of the 11 men’s volleyball players eligible after being selected Academic All-District, nine received Academic All-America honors this week.
From the Division I ranks, Harvard’s senior setter Marko Kostich and Pepperdine’s senior outside hitter Alex Harthaller were honored, each earning first team acclaim. Harthaller was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-America selection and becomes the first Waves player ever to be tabbed with first team Academic All-America honors. Kostich was a part of the Crimson squad, which made the school’s first ever NCAA Tournament berth after winning the EIVA Tournament title.
Mount Olive’s Robert Poole earned first team honors for Division II after garnering second team accolades in 2017. Poole led the nation in aces per set (0.745) and earned first team All-Conference Carolinas honors. Poole was VolleyMob’s Player of the Week, Feb. 20.
Vassar College’s Matthew Knigge garnered first team acclaim for Division III after earning third team honors last year. Knigge, a three-time AVCA All-American middle blocker Matthew Knigge from Vassar College headlines the group of three Division III players who earned Academic All-America acclaim.
Senior outside hitter Stephen Lendy from Fontbonne, the school’s career aces record holder was tabbed as a second team Academic All-American.
Thomas Burrell, a senior middle blocker at Stevens Institute of Technology, garnered third team All-America acclaim.
Three College Division players also received Google Cloud Academic All-America honors: Victor Neves of Park (first team), and Jimmy Aschenbrenner of Morningside and Bobby Ying of Robert Morris (Ill.) (second team).
In addition to the nine men’s volleyball honorees, Division II senior beach volleyball player Kaitlyn Sibson from Eckerd garnered third team Academic All-America honors. She is the only beach volleyball player named to the Google Cloud Academic All-America teams from any division.
At-large teams include all sports outside of the eight sports with their own Academic All-America programs (men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.) The awards recognize the top student-athletes nationally for their combined performances on the field of play and in the classroom.
The All-District teams are divided into eight geographic regions across the United States and Canada and in four divisions (NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III and the College Division).
To be nominated for Academic All-District honors, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale). Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of team’s contests. No student athlete is eligible until after completing one full calendar year at his/her institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility. Graduate students competing a different institution than their undergraduate school are eligible their first semester at the new institution.
Student-athletes must be named to the Academic All-District teams to be eligible for Academic All-America honors.
Division I
First Team
Alex Harthaller, Pepperdine
Marko Kostich, Harvard
Division II
First Team
Robert Poole, Mount Olive
Division III
First Team
Matthew Knigge, Vassar (3)
Second Team
Stephen Lendy, Fontbonne
Third Team
Thomas Burrell, Stevens
College Division
First Team
Victor Neves, Park (1)
Second Team
Jimmy Aschenbrenner, Morningside
Bobby Ying, Robert Morris (Ill.)
Division II Beach VB
Third Team
Kaitlyn Sibson, Eckerd
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