Michigan State University Athletics
Minarick, Garvelink Earn CoSIDA All-District Honors
11/16/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
East Lansing, Mich. - Seniors Rachel Minarick (Naperville, Ill.) and Alyssa Garvelink (Holland, Mich.) have been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Volleyball Teams. CoSIDA recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
Minarick and Garvelink are co-captains of this year's volleyball squad, currently ranked No. 8 in the AVCA National Poll with a 19-7 overall record.
Minarick earns First Team All-District honors for the second straight season, and advances on to the national ballot for Academic All-America honors. The First-, Second- and Third-team Academic All-America honorees to be announced in December. Garvelink earned Second Team All-District honors, her first national academic award.
"To me, these two leaders in our program represent what is best about the student-athlete," said head coach Cathy George. "It's so important because they are working hard both on the court and in the classroom. They are excellent representatives of our program. Their commitment to their studies, their personal growth as players, and their leadership of our team has made them role models not only on our campus but to any young athlete coming up. We're so proud that they represent Michigan State."
Minarick is a kinesiology major who boasts a 3.97 grade point average. She is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, the team's Kirkby Scholar-Athlete Award Winner, as well as the 2014 winner of MSU's Office of the Provost Award at the Student-Athlete Support Services Academic Gala. Minarick owns 4,295 career helpers, which ranks second all-time at MSU behind Nikki Colson (4,563, 2000-03).
Minarick ranks 38th on the All-Time Big Ten career assists list, and ranks 12th among active NCAA Division I players in total career assists. Minarick averages 11.23 assists (fourth, B1G/25th nationally), 0.39 aces (3rd, B1G), and 2.47 digs per set. Her senior-year numbers are the best in any season of her MSU career.
Garvelink will graduate as one of the top blockers in school history. She currently ranks fifth all-time at MSU in total blocks (525) and fourth in block assists (470). Her 1.20 blocks per set average over four years is fifth all-time at MSU. She is 39th all-time in the Big Ten record book in career blocks. Garvelink is also closing in on 1,000 career kills. With 999 terminations after Wednesday's match at Michigan, she is looking to become the 23rd Spartan to reach the milestone.
Garvelink currently fifth in the B1G and 29th nationally in the B1G in blocks per set (1.37), which is her career-best average. Her hitting percentage of .391 ranks fifth in the Conference (30th nationally), and she's contributing 2.55 kills/set.
The Academic All-District® teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and College Division. The College Division includes all NAIA, Canadian, two-year schools, and other affiliations.
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT SELECTIONS - DISTRICT V
FIRST TEAM
Kelsey Bittinger, Kent State (Sr., 3.95, Applied Physics)
Ashley Evans, Purdue (Sr., 3.88, Mechanical Engineering)
Jaelyn Keene, Illinois State (Sr., 3.97, Financial Accounting)
Rachel Minarick, Michigan State (Sr., 3.97, Kinesiology)
Carly Skjodt. Michigan (Jr., 3.36, Sport Management)
Katie Tomasic Miami (Sr., 4.00, Finance)
Kori Waelbroeck, IUPUI (Sr., 4.00, Community Health)
SECOND TEAM
Kate Avila, Ball State (So., 4.00, Speech Language Pathology)
Lauren Bakaitis, Toledo (Sr., 3.96, Bioengineering)
Alyssa Garvelink, Michigan State (Sr., 3.36, Communication)
Kayla Gwozdz, Akron (Jr., 3.99, Social Work)
Megan Kern, Central Michigan (So., 4.00, Biomedical Sciences)
Allison Ketcham, Valparaiso (Sr., 3.99, Exercise Science / Psychology)
Jenna Lerg, Michigan (Jr., 3.32, Biopsychology, Cognition & Neuroscience)
Kallie Seimet, Bowling Green (Jr., 3.84, Health Science)
