Nov. 23, 2009

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Monday, November 23, 2009) – Redhawks volleyball player Molly Davis was named First Team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American® for her achievements on the court and in the classroom. This is the second-straight season that Davis has been honored after garnering Third Team Academic All-American® honors last season.

After becoming the first volleyball player to achieve Academic All-American® honors last season since 2000, she becomes the first player to achieve First Team honors since Lori Kramper achieved the feat in 1988. She is also just the second player in program history to be named Academic All-American® multiple times joining Laura Dill who was a two-time Second Team selection in 1989 and again in 1990.

The senior from Muncie, Indiana, the team’s starting libero since her freshman season, currently holds a perfect 4.0 grade point average in Sports Management and is set to graduate in May. She finished the season ranking second in the Ohio Valley Conference in digs per set (5.30 per set) and total digs (599 digs). Her digs per set average ranks her 15th nationally and has helped the team rank second in the nation in digs per set at 19.30.

Davis is the school record holder in career digs with 2,223 becoming the only player in Southeast Missouri State volleyball history to have over 2,000 career digs. Her 599 digs this season ranks 8th on the school’s single season charts. She ranks third all-time in the OVC in career digs.

Davis also owns the Redhawks D-I single season record for digs with 637 set in 2007. That mark stands as third-best on the all-time single season charts. Her 540 digs that she recorded during her freshman campaign is tied for tenth on the school’s single season charts. Her dig totals from 2007 and 2006 rank seventh and 14th respectively on the OVC’s single season digs charts.

Earlier this season against Ole Miss, Davis set the school single season mark for digs in a match as she finished with 39 in just four sets.

Davis finished her career recording double digits in digs in 120 of her 123 career matches she played in as a Redhawk. She played in every set (459 sets) possible in her career except for five.

This season she was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week three weeks in a row and for her career she has garnered four OVC weekly awards.

Academically she was named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll for the second-straight time last season and was a recipient of the OVC's highest academic award, the OVC Medal of Honor, for the second-straight season. She is also a three-time Southeast Scholar-Athlete honoree.

Davis gives the Redhawks athletic department two First Team Academic All-American® honorees in as many seasons. Last year gymnast Sandra Blake was named to the First Team At-Large Team.

Davis is the only representative from the OVC on an Academic All-American Team®. She is also just one of eight members of the 18 players honored to achieve a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Megan Hodge from top-ranked Penn State was named Academic All-America of the Year. Hodge and Davis were joined by Jessica Boulavsky (Rice), Kori Cooper (Nebraska), Meagan Dooley (Pittsburgh) and Rachael Moss (Duke) on the Academic All-American First Team.

To be eligible for Academic All-American® status, a student-athlete must be named to their respected districts Academic All-District First Team, be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America® honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.