Dec. 18, 2008

2008 SLC All-Academic List

FRISCO, Texas - Texas State volleyball players Emily Jones Wilkes, Amy Weigle and Melinda Cave were all named to the Southland Conference All-Academic Volleyball Teams, announced today by the league office.

Jones Wilkes is a two-time SLC All-Academic first team honoree. She also earned SLC All-Conference First Team honors in her senior campaign. Jones Wilkes is the only 2008 SLC All-Academic honoree that was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic District First Team. She received second team honors, in 2007.

She Graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.94 grade point average in Math(In three years) in Spring 2008. She is currently pursuing a master's of business administration degree. She was named to the Dean's List every semester of enrollment, Oak Farms Dairy Academic Award Winner 2005-2007, Cream of the Crop winner for perfect 4.0 2006-2007, Named to SLC Commissioner's Honor Roll 2005-2007. Jones Wilkes led the Bobcats in blocks with 111 and was third in the SLC in conference play hitting percentage with .379.

Weigle is a three-time honoree as she received first team accolades for the first time in her career. In 2006, she earned SLC All-Academic Third Team honors and last year she was named to the second team. In her senior campaign, Weigle led the SLC in hitting percentage (.397) in conference only play. She earned SLC All-Tournament team honors and First Team All-Conference honors, as she helped lead the Bobcats to a second place finish in the SLC tourney.

With a 3.52 grade point average in Exercise and Sports Science (with teacher certification), Weigle has been named to the Dean's List four times. She is a Oak Farms Dairy Academic Award Winner 2005-2007, was named to SLC Commissioner's Honor Roll 2005-2007 and was named to the 2007 SLC All-Conference First Team.

Sophomore middle blocker Melinda Cave is receiving SLC All-Academic Second Team honors for the first time in her career. Cave has been a force at the net as she ranks third on the team in kills with 261 and third on the team in blocks with 58. Cave helped lead Texas State to a 2008 SLC Regular Season Championship and a 2008 SLC Tournament Runner-Up trophy.

She received 2007 SLC All-Conference Honorable Mention and was named to the 2008 CenturyTel All-Tournament team. Cave completes her sophomore campaign having started all 37 matches for the Bobcats tallying 261 kills, 22 assists, 32 service aces, 238 digs and 58 blocks.

This is the first time the Bobcats have had three players earn SLC All-Academic honors since 1999, where Texas State produced five honorees to the team.

Central Arkansas sophomore middle blocker Chloe Smith was named the Capital One/Southland Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Year. The 2008 Player of the Year, Smith is the first UCA student-athlete to claim both awards.

Stephen F. Austin and Texas State lead all teams with three all-academic selections each. Central Arkansas, Lamar and Sam Houston State have two each, and McNeese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, UT Arlington, UTSA, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi all have one.

Automatic selections include CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine All-District VI selections and those voted first-team all-conference. This year, all members on the first-team all-academic squad were automatic selections.

The All-Academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators 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.

Included in Capital One's support of the Southland Conference's Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship, the All-Academic Teams, the Student-Athlete of the Year, the Scholar-Athlete Award and the Commissioner's Honor Roll.