Holland Named SLC Student-Athlete of the Year
12/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
FRISCO, Texas - Stephen F. Austin setter Paige Holland has been named the 2014 Southland Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Thursday afternoon in conjunction with the release of the all-academic teams.
The Ladyjacks were represented by two student-athletes on the All-Conference Academic First Team as both Holland and outside hitter Jill Ivy were recognized for excelling on the court and in the classroom during their senior seasons.
Holland becomes the first SFA player to claim Student-Athlete of the Year honors since Traci Rohde picked up the award following the 2006 season, and is just the third player to garner the achievement in program history. A two-time SLC all-academic selection, Holland was also named a 2014 CoSIDA Capital One Second Team Academic All-American on Thursday morning and a First Team Academic All-District selection on Nov. 6. The Magnolia, Texas native boasts a 3.97 GPA while majoring in early childhood education.
Athletically, Holland had a breakout season in her final campaign at SFA. She was named the 2014 SLC Setter of the Year - the first Ladyjack to win the prestigious award since 2006 - while also helping SFA place a program-best four athletes on the All-Conference First Team. Holland finished second in the conference with 11.60 assists per set in league matches and compiled 1,097 assists in 111 sets overall on the year.
Ivy finds herself on the league academic first team for the second time in her career after posting a 3.70 GPA in kinesiology. On the court, the Katy, Texas native earned her third consecutive selection on the All-Conference team by leading the Ladyjacks with 395 kills on .265 hitting, averaging 3.56 kills per set. She was named to three All-Tournament teams during the course of the season, including the SLC Tournament from Nov. 21-23.
Both Holland and Ivy played pivotal roles in helping SFA run through the conference schedule with a perfect 16-0 record en route to the program's eighth Southland regular season title in 2014. The duo powered the most efficient attack in the conference as the Ladyjacks ranked first in hitting percentage (.278), assists per set (13.60) and kills per set (14.33) in SLC play.
All 12 members on this year's academic first team were automatic selections after either being a qualifying First Team All-Conference performer or a CoSIDA Academic All-District pick. The Ladyjacks were one of just three teams represented by two student-athletes on the first team squad. Both Holland and Ivy were automatic selections after being named to the All-SLC First Team on Nov. 19 and landing spots on the Academic All-District teams sponsored by CoSIDA.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13 member universities, voted for the student-athlete of the year award. The league's Student-Athlete of the Year is presented to the one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees must have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.
The all-academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators from each Southland 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 all-academic squad.
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