Nov. 6, 2008
LAS VEGAS - A pair of UNLV volleyball student-athletes was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Eight Team on Thursday. Jessica Walters was tabbed to the first team for the second straight year, while Erin Greenwood was selected to the third team. Walters is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America status by virtue of being placed on the district's first team.
Walters and Greenwood are no strangers to receiving academic recognition, as they each have been named to the Mountain West Conference's Academic All-Conference Teams the past two years. Each has been honored on the MWC's Scholar-Athlete Teams, as Greenwood has three selections to Walters' two.
The duo has also been named the past two recipients of the Top Sports Award the past two academic years (Walters 2007-08, Greenwood 2006-07). Walters went one step further and took home UNLV's Most Outstanding Female Athlete honors in April 2008.
Walters has been the recipient of being named to each of the four all-tournament teams that the Rebels participated in this season. She leads the team in kills (268) and kills-per-set (3.23). She has hit for double-digits in 15 of UNLV's 24 matches. She has eight matches of 15 or more kills and one where she tallied more than 20 (Arizona State - Aug. 29). Against ASU (Aug. 29), she collected a career-best 27 kills, while hitting at a .404 clip. She set a career-best in hitting efficiency when she smashed a .520 at BYU (Oct. 11). She knocked down 14 kills with only one error in 25 swings.
Erin Greenwood has made her presence felt in the middle with her ability to attack and put back attacks. At the net, she is first in blocks with 58 (14 solo, 44 assisted) with a season-high six coming against TCU on Oct. 25. She is second on the team in kills (225) and kills-per-set (2.71). She is hitting .292, which is the best amongst Rebels. She has amassed 10 or more kills in 12 matches. Thus far, her best match of the season came against South Carolina (Aug. 30) in ASU's Sheraton Classic where she knocked down 20 kills with only one error in 42 swings and hit .452.
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs: football, women's volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, softball, men's track & field/cross country, women's track & field/cross country, men's at-large and women's at-large. A first team, second team and third team are selected in both the University (Division I and I-AA) and College (Division II, III and NAIA) Divisions. Football consists of just first and second teams.
To be nominated, the student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for his/her career. No athlete is eligible until he/she has reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution (thus, true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible transfers are not eligible). In the cases of transfers, graduate students and junior college graduates, the athlete must have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution to be eligible.
