Three Named to America East Volleyball All-Academic Team

The University of Hartford volleyball team’s success off the court has once again been recognized as three members of the team have been named to the America East All-Academic Team, the most from any one school among the eight total honorees. Senior Lindsay Ford was one of two members of the All-Academic Team who are repeat members from last season. She is joined by junior Lindsay Makowicki and sophomore Kami Nethersole.

Ford has amassed a cumulative grade point average of more than 3.5 as a physical therapy major. The Carson City, Nev., native will continue her education at the University, despite using her four years of athletic eligibility. Ford will continue working towards a doctorate in physical therapy, a seven-year program at Hartford.

Ford completed her eligibility with the third most assists in school history, finishing with 3,456 total assists. She finished her senior season with a career-high 977 assists, while earning second team all-conference honors, her first collegiate postseason honor for athletics.

Makowicki posted the highest single grade point average on the 2010 All-Academic Team, with a cumulative grade point average of 3.88 as a marketing major. She is one of four juniors represented on the team. She finished the season with 88 total kills.

Nethersole, who led the Hawks on the court as a sophomore, is one of two student-athletes on the All-Academic Team with a combined grade point average of 3.87. She is the youngest member of the 2010 All-Academic Team and is a communication major.

On the court, Nethersole led the Hawks with 325 kills, a career-high. She closed out the season hitting double figure kills in the last nine matches of the season, earning a postseason honor for the second-straight season as she joined Ford on the second team all-conference. The Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., native posted a career-high 28 kills in a five set match against Navy, finishing with the most kills for a Hawk since November of 2002.

The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Directors meeting where faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor the league’s top student-athletes, who excel equally in the classroom as they do on the play­ing field.

For the third straight year, America East will select the All-Academic Teams using CoSIDA’s Academic All-America program as a model. Student-athletes worthy of consideration are nominated by member sports information directors and voted on by a committee of SIDs, academic advisors and faculty representatives from all nine member institutions.

All-Academic squads for team sports are based on the maximum number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., seven on the court in vol­leyball) but can be more if there is a tie in voting. To be nominated for the distinction, student-athletes must be a starter or important reserve for their team and participate in at least 50 percent of their team’s games or competitions. In the classroom, student-athletes must have a 3.30 GPA and have completed at least one calendar year at their institution. Freshmen are not eligible for consideration.