May 8, 2008
LAS VEGAS - Three UNLV softball student-athletes were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Eight Teams on Thursday. Jaci Hull was tabbed to the first team, while Brittany Bolinger and Caitlyn Paus were selected to the second team. Hull is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America status by virtue of being placed on the district's first team.
All three student-athletes are no stranger to receiving academic recognition, as they each have been named to the Mountain West Conference's Academic All-Conference Teams. Paus has earned academic all-conference honors for three straight years, while Bolinger and Hull have been honored twice apiece. The trio has also been named MWC Scholar-Athletes, as well.
Hull, a redshirt sophomore from Scottsdale, Ariz., holds a 3.40 cumulative GPA and is a kinesiology major. This season, she has played in all 64 of UNLV's contests and leads the softball team in batting average (.346), home runs (13), RBI (42), total bases (110), slugging (.679), walks (43) and on-base (.500). She is tied for the team-lead in doubles (11) and sits second in hits (56), triples (two) and stolen bases (14). She was named the Mountain West Conference's Player of the Week on Feb. 12, for her efforts in helping UNLV to a 3-1-1 start to the season with upset victories over Arizona State and Washington.
Hull is looking to join four former Rebel softball student-athletes in the CoSIDA All-America listings, as Tammy Bahde (1987), Lisa Wilkins-Eams (1993), Kim Rondina (1996 & 1997) and Charelle Ainslie (2000) were honored in the past.
Bolinger, a junior from Yucaipa, Calif., is a kinesiology major with a 3.63 cumulative GPA. She has started all 64 games, thus far in 2008, and leads the team in hits (58) and stolen bases (20). She is second in runs (38), triples (two), total bases (82) and walks (20). She has also contributed eight doubles, four home runs and 22 RBI.
Paus, a senior from New Lenox, Ill., is a kinesiology and nursing major with a 3.60 cumulative GPA. She has seen action in 51 games this season and has collected 21 hits, 11 RBI and 12 runs. She is hitting .250 on the year, while splitting time between second base and the outfield.
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.
