BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings volleyball team made history in the classroom, as a program-best eight players made the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's All-Academic Volleyball team on Wednesday.
 
"I'm so proud of all of the hard work that our student athletes put in the classroom," Williams said. "I am especially proud of our athletes that are repeat awardees and 4.0 student athletes. The dedication, time management, and effort it takes to earn a 4.0 or be a repeat awardwinner is no small task, and I am happy that these student athletes are getting recognized."
 
MSUB's eight awardwinners were Zoe Bibb, Hannah Hashbarger, Kennedy Juranek, Marissa Logozzo, Joelle Mahowald, Skylar Reed, Olivia Schwartz and Carlyn Whitney. Of this group, three have been consistent starters this year, four are repeat winners and two boasted perfect 4.0 grade-point-averages.
 
Additionally, MSUB was one of four GNAC programs that has multiple players with a 4.0 GPA, as sophomore setter Hannah Hashbarger and sophomore defensive specialist/libero Marissa Logozzo had perfect marks for the second-straight year. Hashbarger and Logozzo, both business administration majors albeit with different concentrations, are two of 10 players in the GNAC with perfect GPAs.
 
Upperclassmen Joelle Mahowald and Skylar Reed — both of whom are elementary education majors – rounded out MSUB's repeat award-winners. This was Reed's third-straight GNAC All-Academic selection and Mahowald's second.
 
Business administration major Zoe Bibb, elementary education major Kennedy Juranek and psychology major Carlyn Whitney were MSUB's first-time selections to the GNAC Volleyball All-Academic team.
 
In order to be considered for the award, athletes not only needed a minimum of a 3.2 GPA (on a 4.00 scale), but also at least one year of experience at their current school. True freshmen and transfers were not eligible. A record 107 volleyball players across the GNAC made the All-Academic team this year.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB travels to Lacey, Wash. for a road game against Saint Martin's this Thursday at 8 p.m. MT. Links to live stats and video can be found on msubsports.com.