NORMAL, Ill. – For her exceptional performance in the classroom and on the volleyball court, Illinois State senior Ali Line has been awarded a spot on the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team, the organization announced Thursday.
"We are extremely proud of Ali (Line)," head volleyball coach Leah Johnson shared. "She has been able to balance her academics with athletics, and excel in both. Ali is very deserving of this academic honor, and we are excited to see her continue to reach her goals."
Line, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team member, holds a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average as a nursing major at Illinois State. At the beginning of July, it was announced that the Bargersville, Indiana, native was selected as a Robert G. Bone Scholar for the 2018-19 academic year. The Bone Scholarship is the top undergraduate honor bestowed at Illinois State, and is reserved for only the top 14 rising seniors, across the entire University.
On the court, Line leads the team with 261 kills, averaging 2.56 kills per set on .334 hitting – the third-best percentage in the conference. The senior has reached double-digit kills on 12 occasions in 2018, while being named the Top Dawg Challenge's Most Valuable Player, after helping guide the Redbirds to a trio of wins over Eastern Illinois, Auburn and Butler earlier this season. She has turned in career-best kill performances in three-set, four-set and five-set matches this season, tabulating an all-time best 19 against Evansville. Line's career hitting clip of .288 ranks eighth all-time in Illinois State program history, while her 315 career blocks and 920 career kills are the 15th- and 23rd-most by a Redbird.
By earning this award, Line is automatically placed on the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot. CoSIDA will announce its first-, second- and third-team Academic All-America selections in early December. To be eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition, student-athletes must have reached sophomore status, both athletically and academically, carry at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of their teams' games.
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