ST. LOUIS – Five Redbirds – Oliva Caputa, Abby Reck, Hannah Reichensperger, Aida Shadewald, and Ruth Ziegler – have been named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team, announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning.
Caputa, a sophomore with a 3.68 grade point average in mass media, finished the season with 146 kills and 207 digs. She finished her 2025 season strong with double-digit kills in three of her last four matches, including a season-high 13 in the MVC Tournament semifinals against Northern Iowa. She had five matches this season with double-digit kills, and eight with double-digit digs including a season-high 16 twice during the season.
Reck, a junior with a 3.86 grade point average in recreation and park administration, had 50 kills on the season to go with 30 digs and 10 blocks. She had a season-high 14 kills on September 4 against Loyola Chicago, where she also had nine digs, narrowly missing the double-double. She had two blocks three times during the year, while serving up a pair of aces against Iowa on September 5.
Reichensperger, a senior with a perfect 4.0 grade point average in data science and computation, had 188 kills for the Redbirds while hitting .267. Her 106 blocks (1.05 per match) were second highest on the team, as she also had 11 service aces and 94 digs. She had 34 blocks over her last six matches and had a season-high 13 kills in Iowa against the Loyola Ramblers. Her career attack percentage of .263 is tied for the 12th-highest in Redbird program history, while her 270 career blocks are ranked 21st in school history.
Shadewald, a senior with a 3.94 grade point average in molecular cellular biology, was one of three Redbirds during the season with 200+ kills, as she had 210 to go along with 209 digs. She had double-digit kills in 12 matches, including in eight of her last 11 matches of her career. She also recorded double-digit digs nine times, including in each of her last three contests. Her 1282 career kills stand 13th in the school's all-time record book, while her 132 career service aces rank 11th.
Ziegler, a sophomore with a 3.85 grade point average in business administration, totaled 219 kills during the season – second-most on the squad – while hitting .248 with 48 digs and 53 blocks. She had eight double-digit kill performances on the season, including a career-high-tying 17 in the season finale loss at Northern Iowa in the MVC Tournament Semifinals. For her efforts during the 2025 MVC Tournament, she earned a spot on the 2025 MVC All-Tournament Team.
The Redbirds closed the 2025 season with a 14-16 record, winning six of its last eight matches during the season while advancing to the MVC Tournament semifinal, falling to Northern Iowa. In all, ISU played five matches against schools in the 2025 NCAA Tournament Field.
