November 7, 2007

Three Jacket VB Players Make Academic Team

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced its 2007 Academic All-Conference volleyball team on Wednesday.  Three student-athletes from Montana State Billings were named to the team.

Alicia Cazemier, Jessica Lechner, and Katrina Solomon represented MSU Billings on the academic team.  Cazemier is a senior Biology major with a 3.74 cumulative grade point average, Lechner is a junior math education major with a 3.29 GPA, and Solomon is a sophomore biology major with a 3.37 GPA.

A total of 39 student-athletes were named to the 2007 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Academic All-Conference volleyball team.  Alaska Fairbanks placed the most players on the academic team with seven.  Central Washington and Western Oregon had six selections each while Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene each earned five spots on the all-conference team.

For the third-straight year Kristi Wigren of Northwest Nazarene had the top grade point average among the scholar-athletes with a 3.95 GPA.  Wigren, a senior from Olympia, Wash., is a social science education major.  Wigren is one of three players with GPAs of 3.90 or better, including Lisa Martini of Western Oregon (3.94) and Loni Evenson of Northwest Nazarene (3.93).

Sixteen student-athletes were repeaters off of last year’s team, including 10 who made the team for the third year in a row.   To be eligible for the academic team, student-athletes must have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 and be in at least their second year of competition at their university.

MSU Billings finishes the 2007 regular season with two home matches this week.  They will host Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.  Both matches start at 7 p.m. at Alterowitz Gym and can be seen live on the internet at www.pennatlantic.com.  Saturday will be “Senior Night” for Cazemier and Nicole Kruse.  Solomon will also be honored with the seniors as she will be transferring to Montana State in Bozeman to pursue a nursing degree.

GNAC Volleyball Academic All-Conference Team
Alexa Sherman, Alaska Fairbanks (Arts & Sciences, So., 3.85, Calabasas, CA)
**Jenna Jones, Alaska Fairbanks (Biology, Sr., 3.73, Fairbanks, AK)
Megan Thigpen, Alaska Fairbanks (Business, So., 3.58, Spokane, WA)
Miranda Trudeau, Alaska Fairbanks (Spanish, Jr., 3.52, Chimacum, WA)
Hannah Armstrong, Alaska Fairbanks (Business, So., 3.45, Eagle River, AK)
Jessica Hill, Alaska Fairbanks (Biology, So., 3.36, Colorado Springs, CO)
**Jessica King, Alaska Fairbanks (Communications, Sr., 3.31, Hailey, ID)

**Bree Brandt, Central Washington (Elementary Education, Sr., 3.87, Bellingham, WA)
Erin Norris, Central Washington (Undeclared, So., 3.60, Spokane, WA)
Deidre Scheidt, Central Washington (Math Teaching, So., 3.49, Milton, WA)
Maggie Olson, Central Washington (Economics, Jr., 3.43, Snoqualmie, WA)
**Erika Stevens, Central Washington (Food Science & Nutrition, Sr., 3.38, Fairbanks, AK)
Lauren Vercammen, Central Washington (Undeclared, Jr., 3.28, Bellingham, WA)

Alicia Cazemier, Montana State Billings (Biology/Chemistry, Sr., 3.74, Vauxhall, Alberta)
Jessica Lechner, Montana State Billings (Math Education, Jr., 3.29, Pompeys Pillar, MT)
Katrina Solomon, Montana State Billings (Biology, So., 3.37, Billings, MT)

**Kristi Wigren, Northwest Nazarene (Social Science Education, Sr., 3.95, Olympia, WA)
**Loni (Loveland) Evenson, Northwest Nazarene (English Education, Sr., 3.93, Middleton, ID)
Allison James, Northwest Nazarene (Kinesiology, Sr., 3.31, San Diego, CA)
**Chelsea (Lewis) Pelton, Northwest Nazarene (Applied Studies, Sr., 3.31, Bellevue, WA)
Cammy Dranginis, Northwest Nazarene (Kinesiology Education, So., 3.21, Nampa, ID)

Elise Dike, Saint Martin’s (Psychology, So., 3.71, Shelton, WA)

*Libby Graff, Seattle (Mathematics, Jr.,  3.56, Beaverton, OR)
*Nikole Thompson, Seattle (Psychology, Sr., 3.48, Marysville, WA)
Haley Bury, Seattle (Journalism/Mass Communications, Jr., 3.24, Roy, WA)
Jessica Gunderson, Seattle (Mechanical Engineering, So., 3.22, Duvall, WA)

Nicole Finley, Seattle Pacific (European Studies, Jr., 3.89, Highlands Ranch, CO)
Robin De Jong, Seattle Pacific (Sociology, So., 3.81, Goleta, CA)
**Alyssa Given, Seattle Pacific (Nursing, Sr., 3.32, Salinas, CA)
*Torii Mount, Seattle Pacific (Family & Consumer Behavior, Sr. 3.49, Gresham, OR)
**Rachel Biornstad, Seattle Pacific (Info Systems Management, Sr., 3.39, Kent, WA)

Lisa Martini, Western Oregon (Exercise Science, So., 3.94, Philomath, OR)
*Stacey Bennett, Western Oregon (Psychology, Jr., 3.89, Portland, OR)
Amy Herron, Western Oregon (Exercise Science, So., 3.79, Spokane, WA)
Jessica Baty, Western Oregon (Exercise Science, So. 3.71, Pendleton, OR)
Danielle English, Western Oregon (Exercise Science, So., 3.40, Anchorage, AK)
*Claire Carpenter, Western Oregon (Early Childhood Education, Sr., 3.33, Gresham, OR)

*Tiana Roma, Western Washington (Biology, Jr., 3.78, Edmonds, WA)
**Courtney Schneider, Western Washington (Community Health, Sr., 3.59, Snohomish, WA) 

*Repeater  **Two-time repeater