Michigan State University Athletics
Minarick Named CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America
12/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Michigan State senior Rachel Minarick (Naperville, Ill.) has been named a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) First-Team Academic All-America, as announced by the organization on Monday.
Minarick, a four-year starting setter for the Spartans, is just the second First Team CoSIDA Academic All-America in MSU Volleyball program history. Dana Cooke was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America, earning Second Team honors in 1995 before earning a spot on the First Team in 1996. Val Sterk (1996, Third Team) Jenilee Rathje (2011, Second Team) and current assistant coach Kristen Kelsay (2013, Third Team) are the other Spartans to previously earn this honor.
A member of MSU's Honors College, she boasts a 3.97 grade-point average as a Kinesiology major. Her senior season for MSU concluded on Saturday with a loss in the Elite Eight to No. 1 Penn State, and the two-time captain certainly left her mark on the program.
In what would be MSU's season finale, she became MSU's all-time assist leader as she put up 34 helpers to push her career total to 4,581 and past previous record holder Nikki Colson (4,563, 2000-03).
Minarick also ranks 10th all-time at MSU in service aces (135) and ninth in career sets played (448). So far in 2017, she has earned Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors, was a First Team AVCA All-North region pick, and was named to the NCAA University Park Regional All-Tournament Team.
"Rachel Minarick is a shining example of the term ‘student-athlete'," said head coach Cathy George. "Her drive and determination is so apparent when you look at what she has accomplished for us on the court while being one of the top academic achievers on our campus. Being an Academic All-American was one of her goals, along with all of the goals that we set as a team for our season. As a captain, she helped keep our team on track to advance to the Elite Eight, and she will leave as one of the most impactful players in our program history as our all-time assist leader. Many people don't know the physical obstacles that Rachel had to endure to even suit up on a nightly basis, so to see her earn these awards and acknowledgments is pretty special."
Of the 21 members of the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division I volleyball team, 18 have at least a 3.90 GPA, with 14 student-athletes sporting a perfect 4.0 GPA. The seven members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.98.
FIRST TEAM Name School Yr. GPA MajorAlexis Conaway Iowa State Sr. 4.00 Kinesiology Ashley Evans (2) (#) Purdue Sr. 3.88 Mechanical EngineeringLily Johnson (2) Missouri State Sr. 3.96 Cell and Molecular BiologyJaelyn Keene (2) Illinois State Sr. 3.97 Financial AccountingRachel Minarick Michigan State Sr. 3.97 KinesiologyAnnika Olsen Iowa Sr. 4.06 FinanceKristi Piedimonte Kennesaw State Sr. 4.00 Nursing
SECOND TEAM Name School Yr. GPA MajorJacie McClure Louisiana Tech Sr. 4.00 Kinesiology & Health PromotionAllison Penner UNCG Jr. 4.00 Accounting Kristen Stucker Austin Peay Jr. 4.00 BiologyKatie Tomasic Miami (Ohio) Sr. 4.00 FinanceKori Waelbroeck IUPUI Sr. 4.00 Community HealthHaleigh Washington (3) (&) Penn State Sr. 3.79 PhilosophyJaali Winters Creighton Jr. 3.92 Business Information & Analytics and French
THIRD TEAM Name School Yr. GPA MajorBrianne Dixon Missouri State Sr. 4.00 Cell and Molecular BiologyAnn Hollas Stephen F. Austin So. 4.00 BiologyLeah Lawrence Alabama Gr. 3.99/4.00 Accounting Ally Lunsford Bryant Sr. 4.00 Applied PsychologyPatricia Mattingly U.S. Naval Academy Jr. 3.83 Applied MathematicsKaylee Neal New Mexico State Gr. 4.00/4.00 AccountingAnna Zwiebel LSU So. 4.09 Kinesiology
