Megan Nieszala, Chelsea Huppert named Academic All-District in Volleyball by the College Sports Information Directors of America
By Tim Glon
| CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams (.pdf) |
ADA — Ohio Northern senior libero Megan Nieszala (Lambertville, Mich./St. Marys Catholic Central) and sophomore middle hitter Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) named Academic All-District in Volleyball by the College Sports Information Directors of America for 2017.
The award winners must be a sophomore or higher in class standing, must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution.
Nieszala is also a three-time All-OAC pick, a three-time Academic All-OAC selection, a two-time All-Great Lakes Region pick, a two-time Honorable Mention All-American and was the OAC Libero of the Year in 2016.
She led the team and the OAC with 591 digs this season, which ranks her fifth on ONU's single-season list for a senior.
She ends her career ranked fourth all-time at ONU with 1,878 career digs.
Huppert was also named First Team All-Great Lakes Region, First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference and Academic All-OAC earlier this season.
She led the OAC with an ONU sophomore record 131 blocks, was second in the OAC with 407 kills and was third in the OAC with a .331 hitting percentage this season.
She currently ranks 10th all-time at ONU with 69 block solos and her .336 career hitting percentage is third-best in ONU history.
As a First team Academic All-District honoree, Nieszala and Huppert will now be on the ballot for Academic All-America honors, which will be released on Dec. 13.
The Polar Bears (29-6 overall) are ranked No. 20 nationally by the AVCA and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA III Tournament with victories over DePauw (Ind.) and No. 25 Otterbein before falling to No. 3 Wittenberg in the Regional Finals.