C-USA Sports Seven on the Academic All-District Teams
Nov. 8, 2007 Conference USA had five volleyball players named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams. The teams are voted on by college and university Sports Information, Media Relations and Athletic Communications professionals who are members of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Earning first team honors was Rice's Jessie Boulavsky and UCF's Jenny Heppert. Boulavsky, a sophomore, was named to the All-District VI first team. A Conference USA Academic medalist as a freshman, Boulavsky carries a 4.09 grade point average as a pre-med and psychology major. The Clear Brook High School graduate was also a member of the President's Honor Roll at Rice in her first two semesters. On the court, Boulavsky has made eight starts and been the first off the bench in the other 18 matches as the Owls' right-side hitter. She is second on the team with a .318 hitting percentage and third with 0.65 blocks per game. Heppert, a junior middle blocker, was named All-District III first team with a 4.0 GPA and is working toward a degree in biology. She was the lone junior and one of only two players from the state of Florida to make the six-person all-district first team. Heppert is the program's first player to make the Academic All-District III First Team. In 2004, Emily Watts was named to the third team and in 1997, Renata Menchikova was named to the second team. On the court, Heppert has played in all 29 matches this season and leads the team in service aces (35), solo blocks (20), block assists (92) and total blocks (112). She also ranks 10th in Conference USA with a 1.08 blocks per game average. Junior Casey Dent, a middle blocker on UAB's team, was named to the All-District IV third team for the second-straight year. The honor adds to the already lengthy list of academic accolades for Dent, who was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team as a sophomore in 2006. Dent is a two-time member of the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and was awarded the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal as a sophomore. She is averaging 2.88 kills per game this season and holds a team-best hitting percentage at .328. She ranks second all-time at UAB in career hitting percentage at .329. Also earning All-District IV third team honors was Memphis senior outside hitter Ashley Liford. Lilford has started all 31 matches this season and leads the Tigers offense and ranks ninth among Conference USA hitter with 3.85 kills per game. She has put down a team-high 443 kills and now ranks fourth on Memphis' career kills list with 1,515. She needs just 14 more terminations to take over the No. 3 spot on that list. Liford has excelled in the classroom since the day she stepped on the University of Memphis campus. A member of the Inaugural C-USA All-Academic Team in 2006, the San Antonio native has maintained a 3.72 GPA in marketing management. She earned a 4.0 in the 2007 spring semester and is a member of the Tiger Academic 30 and the Tiger 3.0 Club. Tulane junior defensive specialist Ashley Bernards received All-District Third Team honors after sporting a 3.95 GPA in finance from the prestigious A.B. Freeman School of Business. In 40 games, Bernards has an average of 1.58 digs per game, including 2.56 this season. She was named Tulane's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2006-07 and is a recipient of the C-USA Commissioner's Medal. Bernards is a four-year member of the Dean's list and has earned the option of completing her finance degree in just three years. Bernards is a member of the Beta Alpha Psi fraternity and Alpha Lambda Delta. She has already been selected for a competitive internship with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young and is currently being considered for graduate school admission at numerous institutions. Southern Miss' Ashley Petrinec earned All-District VI third team accolades. The Bloomington, Ill., native is majoring in mathematics and computer science with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. She was a four-time President's List scholar and received the Conference USA Academic Medal for two consecutive years. Petrinec is second on the team in kills with 287 and digs with 281. She has a 2.76 kill pre game average and a 2.71 dig per game average. She leads the team in double-doubles with 10 (kills-digs). She recorded a season-high 17 kills on two occasions. Petrinec was named to the Louisiana Tech all-tournament team this season. ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS District IV District VI Third Team
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