Kauling & Thompson Earn Academic All-District Honors

Volleyball 11/18/2021 12:33:00 PM

PEORIA, Ill. -- For the first time since 2005 and fifth time overall Bradley Volleyball has a pair of Academic All-District V selections with senior outside hitter Hannah Thompson (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) earning first-team distinction for the third consecutive year and senior setter Kora Kauling (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley/Wichita State) taking home second-team honors according to an announcement by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Thursday.

Thompson, who was the first CoSIDA Academic All-American in program history in 2020-21, is the third individual on record in Bradley history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-District three times; joining Bradley Soccer's Clark Emerson (2015-18) and Kelly Amundrud (2010-12) of Bradley Women's Golf.

Kauling's Second-Team CoSIDA Academic All-District V honors gives Bradley two all-district selections in the same year for the first time since Gillian Falknor and Lindsay Stalzer both garnered the award in 2005. The Braves also had two Academic All-District winners in 2002 (Stephanie Behrns & Jenna Passman) in addition to Laura Benzing and Samantha Hardwick both earning the honor in 2000 and again 2001.

Bradley has had a total of 15 Academic All-District V picks, with this year's honors marking the fourth consecutive year a Brave earned the award.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.0, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his institution and be nominated by his sports information director.

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot with First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America honorees announced in mid-December.

A health science major with a 4.00 cumulative grade point average, Thompson will now appear on the ballot for Academic All-America consideration for a third consecutive year.

Thompson was a Third-Team Academic All-American as a junior, in addition to earning honorable mention AVCA All-Region honors this spring. One of 30 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, she is a two-time First-Team All-MVC performer and two-time First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete. The third player in MVC history with 1,300 career kills and 1,800 career digs, Thompson is the first individual in the nation to reach both marks since 2003.

Holding Bradley's career digs record, Thompson also owns the school record with 76 career double-doubles. She is 19th in MVC history with 1,831 career digs in addition to ranking seventh in Bradley history with 1,340 career kills. Thompson leads the Braves in kills per set (3.00) this season and is one of three players in the nation in 2021 with 325 kills and 400 or more digs.

A transfer from Wichita State, Kauling is majoring in Family & Consumer Science and boasts a 3.83 cumulative grade point average. She was a First-Team All-MVC selection and First-Team MVC Scholar-Athlete in her first season at Bradley in 2020-21. Ranking fifth in the MVC in assists per set, Kauling turned in the first triple-double at Bradley since 2003 earlier this year and has two triple-doubles this fall to become the first Brave dating back to 2000 to have multiple triple-doubles in a season.

Kauling ranks sixth in Bradley in career assists per set (8.28) and is on pace to average better than 1.5 kills and seven assists per set for a second consecutive year after she was the first individual in the MVC to post both averages in the same season since 2013.

The duo has helped Bradley to the first back-to-back seasons with 12 or more league wins in program history, with the Braves owning a Valley-best 24 conference wins over the last two years.

Bradley returns to action Friday, facing I-74 rival Illinois State in a 6 p.m. match in Normal, Ill., with the winner taking over sole possession of second place in the Valley standings.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling: S; 6' 2"; Senior

#6 Hannah Thompson: OH; 5' 8"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling
: 6' 2"; Senior
: S

#6 Hannah Thompson
: 5' 8"; Senior
: OH

Kauling & Thompson Earn Academic All-District Honors

Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling

#6 Hannah Thompson

Players Mentioned

#4 Kora Kauling

#6 Hannah Thompson