Ann Hollas Named 2018 Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year
FRISCO, Texas – Stephen F. Austin junior setter Ann Hollas is the 2018 Southland Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year, Southland officials announced Monday along with its all-academic teams. All yearly awards are presented by
Ready Nutrition.
Hollas makes the Southland All-Academic team for the second time in her collegiate career after helping the Ladyjacks to 2018 Southland Conference regular-season and tournament titles. The Longview, Texas native was earned first team all-conference accolades after playing a crucial role for the SFA squad that concluded the season with a 32-3 overall record and a perfect 16-0 mark in conference play. Hollas maintains a flawless 4.00 grade point average as a biology major and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America teams for her efforts on the court and in the classroom. Hollas dealt out 754 assists for the Ladyjacks this season for a 6.53 average. She also notched a pair of triple-doubles, one of which led to a three-game sweep over Houston Baptist in the semifinal round of the Southland Conference Tournament.
Among the 18 all-academic honorees, Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas and Sam Houston State lead the way landing three selections each. ACU student-athletes include Kendall Bosse, Mikai Brown and Jacey Smith. Sam Houston State is represented by 2018 Southland Conference Player of the Year Taylor Cunningham, who was named a first team selection alongside Madison Wallace and second team honoree Caroline Sheaff. Central Arkansas’ Samantha Anderson earned her way to a first team spot while her teammates Savannah Allen and Bailey Waddington were named to the all-academic second team. Of the 12 first team recipients on the first team all-academic squad, 10 are automatic selections.
Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi each landed two student-athletes each on the all-academic rosters.
Hollas, Cunningham, Haley Coleman, Madison Green and Kayla Davenport comprise the group of Southland student-athletes who were named CoSIDA Academic All-District. Hollas earned her way to a First Team Academic All-America spot, marking the first volleyball student-athlete to accomplish the feat in Southland Conference history. Green and Davenport were voted CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-America.
Between both all-academic teams, four players have claimed a perfect 4.00 GPA, including Hollas and Houston Baptist’s Davenport and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Green and Rachel Young.
Cunningham, Anderson, Coleman, Smith and Northwestern State’s Channing Burleson are making their third appearances to the Southland all-academic roster. Hollas, Green and UNO’s Kaitlyn Grice are making their second selection to the all-academic squad.
The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 13-member universities, selected the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to the one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees shall 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 advisors 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 all-academic squad.
CoSIDA Academic All-District/All-American selections and First Team All-Conference athletes who meet all-academic nomination criteria are automatically named First Team All-Academic.
2018 Southland Conference Volleyball All-Academic Teams
| First Team |
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| Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Ann Hollas ^, 1, 2, #, % |
Stephen F. Austin |
Jr. |
Longview, Texas |
4.00 |
Biology |
| Taylor Cunningham1, 3, # |
Sam Houston State |
Sr. |
Huntsville, Texas |
3.84 |
Accounting |
| Samantha Anderson1, 3 |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
Tyler, Texas |
3.79 |
Elementary Education |
| Kendall Bosse1 |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
Ingram, Texas |
3.73 |
Composite Interdisciplinary |
| Madison Wallace1 |
Sam Houston State |
Sr. |
Pasadena, Texas |
3.52 |
Public Health |
| Haley Coleman1, 3, # |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Rockwall, Texas |
3.94 |
Kinesiology |
| Madison Green1, 2, #, % |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
Jr. |
Dripping Springs, Texas |
4.00 |
Biology |
| Channing Burleson1,3 |
Northwestern State |
Sr. |
Midland, Texas |
3.66 |
Nursing (BSN) |
| Mikai Brown |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
Longview, Texas |
3.96 |
Nursing |
| Kayla Davenport#, % |
Houston Baptist |
Gr. |
Columbus, Texas |
4.00 |
Kinesiology/Sport Management |
| Kaitlyn Grice2 |
New Orleans |
Sr. |
Valrico, Fla. |
3.92 |
Biological Sciences |
| Jacey Smith3 |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
Wimberley, Texas |
3.90 |
Kinesiology |
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Second Team
Name |
University |
Class |
Hometown |
GPA |
Major |
| Keegan Nelms |
McNeese |
Jr. |
Santa Fe, Texas |
3.68 |
Nursing |
| Rachel Young |
A&M-Corpus Christi |
So. |
Frisco, Texas |
4.00 |
Undecided |
| Savannah Allen |
Central Arkansas |
Sr. |
St. Catherines, Ontario |
3.19 |
General Science |
| Hannah Brister |
Northwestern State |
So. |
Paincourtville, La. |
3.42 |
Health and Exercise Science |
| Bailey Waddington |
Central Arkansas |
So. |
San Angelo, Texas |
3.87 |
Biology |
| Caroline Sheaff |
Sam Houston State |
Jr. |
Willis, Texas |
3.95 |
Animal Science |
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^2018 Southland Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year
1All-Conference First Team selection
2Two-time all-academic selection
3Three-time all-academic selection
#CoSIDA Academic All-District
%CoSIDA Academic All-America