June 29, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV softball program had three student-athletes named to both the Mountain West's Scholar-Athlete Award and Spring 2011 Academic All-Conference honor this week, while eight more individuals were recognized for the latter, as well.
Amber Petersen (4.00, elementary education) earned her third scholar-athlete award, while she was honored for the first time as an academic all-conference honoree. Bri Bernardi (3.62, master of science: sports education leadership) and Tayler Van Acker (3.50, earth and environmental science) rounded out the trio of Rebels recognized for the scholar-athlete award. Bernardi has been tabbed to the academic all-conference list three times, while it was the first for Van Acker.
Ashli Holland, the 2011 MW Player of the Year, became the 12th Rebel since 2001 to earn the academic all-conference honor at least four times during her playing career at UNLV.
Korin Cuico (3.21, kinesiological studies) and Traci Odegard were both recognized for the third time, while Tayler Aleman (3.00, interdisciplinary studies) was named to academic all-conference for the second time.
Four more Rebels, besides Petersen and Van Acker, were selected academic all-conference for the first time: Samantha Henry (3.44, communication studies), Pauline Monreal (3.31, kinesiological studies), Stefany Valentino (3.05, kinesiological studies) and Tara Woodall (3.24, journalism and media studies).
The MW Scholar-Athlete Award is one of the highest academic honors bestowed by the Conference. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least two academic terms at the member institution, while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better, and have participated in varsity competition in an NCAA-sponsored sport.
A league-record 581 student-athletes were honored by the MW today for the Scholar-Athlete Award. This year's tally greatly surpasses the previous conference record of 549 honorees set in 2008-09.
Overall, 782 student-athletes from the MW were named to the academic team, and this year's mark surpassed the previous league record of 772 honorees set in 2008-09. To be eligible for selection, student-athletes must have completed at least one academic term at the member institution while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better, and be a starter or significant contributor on their athletic team.
