ST. LOUIS – Illinois State volleyball juniors Sarah Kushner and Kaity Weimerskrich were selected to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team for their efforts in the classroom and on the court. The honor comes not even a week after the duo was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District® Women's Volleyball Team.
The selection to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team marks the first for both Kushner and Weimerskirch after Kushner earned a spot on the Honorable Mention Scholar-Athlete Team following the spring 2020-21 season. Kushner, a Public Health major, and Weimerskirch, a Psychology major, both have maintained 4.0 GPAs while at Illinois State.
Qualifications for the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team are as followed: 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 her institution and be nominated by her sports information director.
Kushner ended the regular season tied for a conference leading 18 double-doubles, including 11 during league play. The Naperville, Illinois native, notched double-digit kills in 21 matches this season, including a 10-game streak with double figures from Sept. 18 through Oct. 18. She has also had at least 10 digs on 19 different occasions during the 2021 season. Entering MVC Tournament play this week, Kushner is averaging 2.96 kills and 2.82 digs per set.
In addition to being selected to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention Team earlier this year, Kushner also earned the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award last year and has been named to both the MVC and AFNI Honor Rolls multiple times in her career. Kushner was selected to the 2019 MVC Championship All-Tournament Team and the 2020-21 All-MVC Second Team.
Weimerskirch leads the Valley and ranks 16th in the NCAA with 551 total digs this season, averaging 4.79 digs/set which is tied for the best average in the league. She is the only MVC player with over 550 digs during the 2021 campaign.
During conference matches, Weimerskirch averages a league-leading 4.91 digs per set. The Brooklyn Park, Minnesota native's 334 digs are the most in MVC play with the next closest athlete over 20 digs behind Weimerskirch.
Weimerskirch became only the 16th Redbird in school history to reach 1,000 career digs earlier this year after combining for 51 in ISU's two home matches against Loyola-Chicago and Valparaiso which was the exact number needed to reach the 1,000-dig mark after entering the weekend with 949 digs. ISU's junior captain was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for her impressive performance against the Ramblers and Beacons.
Academically, Weimerskirch earned the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award last year and is multi-time member of both the MVC and AFNI Honor Rolls.
UP NEXT
Kushner, Weimerskirch and the rest of the Redbird volleyball team are back in action on Friday, November 26 at 6 p.m. when they face the winner of the No. 3 Bradley/No. 6 Indiana State match and go for their third-straight MVC Tournament Championship title. All the MVC Championship action is hosted right here in Normal at Redbird Arena – buy an all-session or single session ticket here!
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