Hanlan And Burns Named Academic All-Conference
12/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 15, 2011
FRISCO, Texas - Madison Hanlan and Sabrina Burns were each named to the Southland Conference Academic All-Conference volleyball first team on Thursday, with each being an automatic selection due to earning academic all-district honors last month.
The pair of junior Ladyjacks make up half of a group of four Southland players that were automatic choices for the team along with UTSA's Kelsey Schwirtlich and Kelsey Jewasko, who was named the league's student-athlete of the year.
The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators from each Southland Conference university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team's competition to qualify for the squad.
Automatic selections are earned from having met all qualifications in addition to being named to the All-SLC first team, or by being named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team.
It was the second consecutive seasons both Hanlan and Burns being named to the all-district first team, and Hanlan's selection also marks the sixth consecutive year in which SFA has had multiple players earn first-team recognition. Each player has managed to maintain a perfect 4.0 in their classes entering the fall of their junior campaigns, with Hanlan majoring in cellular and molecular biology, and Burns majoring in professional accountancy. They were the only two on the team with perfect 4.0 GPAs.
Hanlan was a second team all-SLC choice after finishing her junior campaign ranked third in the Southland with a 5.03 digs-per-set average, and went over 30 digs in a match three times this year, including a career-best 35 in a five-set win over UAB. Despite recently going down with a shoulder injury, she still has managed to become just the fourth Ladyjack in history to surpass the 1,500-dig mark for her career and will likely move into second place all-time at SFA in digs as a senior, trailing only former all-America libero Stephanie Figgers.
Meanwhile, Burns experienced a breakout season, swinging at a .245 clip and averaging 1.85 kills per set for the year from her middle blocker post; however, her defensive play at the net as cemented herself as one of the top middle blockers in the league. The 6-2 junior from McAlester, Okla., is averaging a solid 1.07 blocks per set for the year, but has upped her production to 1.42 blocks per set in 14 league matches, which is second among all SLC players in league-only play. She has registered multiple blocks in 28 of 30 matches, including tying a career high with 10 in a five-set comeback win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
-SFA-
