Three Huskers Named Academic All-District

Lincoln ? Three members of the Nebraska volleyball program were honored Thursday morning, as Kori Cooper, Amanda Gates and Jordan Larson were selected to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VII team.

It is the first time that any of the three players were named first-team Academic All-District, and all three players will be placed on the national ballot and eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Gates (2006) and Larson (2007) were both previously third-team Academic All-District selections.  All three players are starters for the third-ranked Huskers, who are 22-1 on the season entering Saturday’s match with No. 15 Kansas State.

Cooper has been a three-year starter at middle blocker and enters the weekend with 2.09 kills and 0.94 blocks per set this season. She is second in the Big 12 and 14th nationally in hitting percentage, and has hit .400 or better in 13 of NU’s 23 matches. In the classroom, she carries a 3.82 GPA in Speech-Language Pathology and has been on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll all five semesters at Nebraska. She has volunteered for numerous events in her career, including the Husker Connect Program, Dance Marathon for cancer patients and School is Cool Week.

Gates is selected for academic recognition for the second time in her career, and has put together her best season for the Big Red. She enters the weekend averaging 1.57 kills and 1.19 blocks per set, ranking among the conference leaders in both blocks and hitting percentage. Gates matched her career best with 10 blocks in a win at No. 18 Kansas State in September and has set personal bests for kills twice this season, including 11 in a win at Iowa State. A communication studies major with a 3.96 GPA, Gates has been instrumental in the Huskers winning the Life Skills Team Award in each of the last two years, as she coordinates many of the players’ visits. For her extensive outreach efforts, she was selected to the Big 12 Community of Champions Good Works team in both 2007 and 2008.

Larson picks up her second academic all-district award and has been one of the leaders for the third-ranked Huskers. She is averaging 3.77 kills, 3.01 digs and 0.36 service aces per set, ranking among the Big 12 leaders in kills, aces and points. A two-time AVCA All-American, Larson has 46 career double-doubles, which is the most among Huskers in the Big 12 era, and is first on NU’s career list in service aces (175), third in digs (1,269) and sixth in kills (1,431). In the classroom, Larson is a two-time academic All-Big 12 honoree and carries a 3.31 GPA in communication studies. She has also been active in NU’s outreach efforts, helping in the Juvenile Diabetes Walk, Reach to Succeed Book Drive and the SafeQuarters to benefit Friendship Home.

The Huskers return to action on Saturday night, when they host Kansas State at 7 p.m. The match will be carried on selected Husker Sports Network stations, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com. The match will also be televised statewide on NET Television. 

ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII First-Team

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School

Yr.

Hometown

GPA

Major

Amanda Gates

Nebraska

Sr.

Columbus, Neb.

3.96

Communication Studies

Kori Cooper

Nebraska

Jr.

Amarillo, Texas

3.82

Speech-Language Pathology

Emily Hiza

Iowa

Sr.

Swink, Colo.

3.95

Marketing and Finance

Molly Davis

Southeast Missouri St.

Jr.

Muncie, Ind.

4.00

Sport Management

Kelly Broussard

Wichita State

Sr.

San Antonio, Texas

3.58

Marketing

Whitney Behrens

St. Louis Univ.

Jr.

St. Louis, Mo.

3.95

Nutrition & Dietetics

Jordan Larson

Nebraska

Sr.

Hooper, Neb.

3.31

Communication Studies