Bowling Green, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced its 2009 Volleyball Academic All-MAC team Tuesday and Bowling Green seniors Kaitlin Jackson and Shari Luther were both recognized on the team. The team is selected by vote of the faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions.
A total of 19 student-athletes were named to the team and Bowling Green was one of just six schools to have multiple representatives among the honorees. To qualify for the team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and have played in at least 50 percent of her team’s contests. First-year student-athletes and transfers in their first year of residency are not eligible for the award.
Jackson started all 33 matches during her senior season and ranked second on the team with 26 aces and 298 digs, as well as finishing third with 54 blocks and 291 kills. Her 24 kills against Kent State were the most by any BGSU player in a match all season. She finished with eight double-doubles (at least 10 kills and 10 digs), including 11 kills and 17 digs in the squad’s MAC Tournament win over rival Toledo. She was named to the Duquesne/Robert Morris All-Tournament Team and had at least 10 kills in 13 matches.
Luther was a first team all-conference player after leading the MAC with a .357 attack percentage, ranking 33rd nationally in that category. She led the Falcons in blocks and points and was twice named MAC East Division Player of the Week. She was named MVP of the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational after leading Bowling Green to a 4-0 record. She also started all 33 matches and was the only player on the team to play in all 123 sets this year. She had at least 10 kills in 19 different matches and had at least one block in all but one match this year.
Bowling Green ended the season with a record of 13-20 overall and 5-11 in MAC play but the team continued to get better as the year wore on. The Falcons started 0-6 in conference play but went .500 over the final 10 matches and then upset rival Toledo on the road in the opening round of the MAC Tournament. That victory was Head Coach Denise Van De Walle’s 500th of her distinguished career, the first coach in MAC history to reach that milestone.
