Oregon State Volleyball Player Jill Sawatzky Named Pac-10 Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Corvallis, Ore. – Senior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) is the 2010 Pac-10 Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, presented by Toyo Tires, announced Wednesday by Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott.
Sawatzky is a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic First Team selection and 2010 CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-District 8 First Team honoree. The 6-2 outside hitter is a business major, earning an Everyday Champion nod in the fall. She has been named to the Dean’s List every term at Oregon State, while tallying perfect 4.0 GPAs in eight of her 11 terms attended.
On the court, Sawatzky finished as the fourth best attacker in school history, amassing 1,481 kills (3.28 kps) and 1692.0 points (3.75 pps). In her final season, she recorded the ninth best single season for kills with 462, second-best for a senior. And her 538.5 points is also good for ninth all-time. She earned her first All-Pac-10 honor, tabbed honorable mention, this season after earning Pac-10 All-Freshman Honorable Mention accolades in 2007.
Pac-10 corporate partner Toyo Tires is the sponsor of this award, and it will donate $1,000 to the Oregon State Athletics scholarship fund. Sawatzky becomes the fourth Oregon State athlete to be named a Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete since the inception of the program in 2007-08.
In order to be eligible for the Pac-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution.
Each Pac-10 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-10 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.
