Five Braves Earn MVC Scholar-Athlete Honors

Volleyball 11/20/2018 10:18:00 AM

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Five Bradley Volleyball players earned Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete honors, with senior outside hitter Erica Haslag taking home First-Team Valley Scholar-Athlete distinction for the second consecutive year to highlight the honors for the Braves, according to an announcement by the league office Tuesday.

Haslag is the eighth two-time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete award winner in program history and first to do so for the Braves since Lindsay Stalzer was a three-time pick in 2003, 2004 & 2005. In addition to Haslag's First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete honor, junior setter Hannah Angeli, junior middle Kathryn Graf, senior libero Yavianliz Rosado and senior middle blocker Alissa Schovanec were named honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athletes.

Graf took home honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete honors for the second consecutive year and Bradley's five league scholar-athlete winners were the most for the Braves since 2001 in addition to tying Valparaiso for the most MVC Scholar-Athlete selections in 2018.

Haslag was one of 30 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award in 2018 and was recently named a First-Team Academic All-District V selection. An actuarial science major with a 3.91 cumulative grade point average, she is third in the MVC in kills per set this season (4.19) and 18th in the country in total kills (478).

Haslag has climbed into 14th in MVC history with 1,623 career kills, which rank third all-time on The Hilltop and seventh among active players in the country. She has 478 kills this season for the seventh-best season total in Bradley history and has turned in eight performances of 20 or more kills, including five of the last seven matches. Haslag has been named MVC Player of the Week twice this fall.

Angeli has served as Bradley's primary setter each of the past two seasons and is fifth in the league in assists per set at 10.47. She has helped the Braves to their best team hitting since 2002 and has 11 double-doubles this fall. Angeli is looking to become the first player in nearly two decades to lead the team in both assists and aces in back-to-back seasons. A health science major with a 3.56 cumulative grade point average, she has averaged 1.27 kills, 10.80 assists, 0.22 aces and 2.72 digs per set over the last 10 matches, while hitting .286 during that stretch.

Graf leads Bradley in blocking at 0.89 per set and is third in total kills (159) this fall. In conference play, she averaged 1.79 kills per set to go with 0.89 blocks per set. Graf has reached double figures in kills three times in 2018 and helped highlight the home victory over Valparaiso with a season-best 13 kills. An accounting major, Graf owns a 3.81 cumulative grade point average. She is the team's active career leader with 240 blocks in her near three years on The Hilltop and is eight kills from reaching 500 in her career.

Rosado has helped anchor one of the top defenses in the country, ranking seventh in the country in digs per set (5.82). She has helped Bradley rank second nationally in digs per set (19.39), while breaking her own school season digs record. A three-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week honoree in 2018, Rosado owns the 10th-best season dig total in MVC history (663) this season. A political science major, she owns a 3.20 cumulative grade point average. Rosado is 10th among active players nationally with 2,148 career digs including her two years at San Jose State and is seventh in Bradley history in career digs.

Schovanec was named to the all-tournament teams at both the CEFCU Classic and the Gamecock Classic this fall. A starter in 24 matches, she ranks fifth on the team in total kills and is second in blocking at 0.82 per set. She has two outings with 10 or more kills, including a career-best 12 kills at Jacksonville State, where she had no errors and hit .600. A marketing major, Schovanec owns a 3.89 cumulative grade point average.

Forty-two student-athletes were nominated for the Valley's scholar-athlete team. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75-percent of the regular-season matches. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore status in both athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible).

The group helped Bradley (23-7 overall, 13-5 MVC) to a third-place conference finish this fall. The Braves will face #6 seed Drake in the opening round of the MVC Tournament in Springfield, Mo., Thursday at 5 p.m.

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