Ball State Women's Volleyball Team Places Two On Academic All-MAC Team
MUNCIE, Ind. - - Senior libero Alyssa Rio (Wayne, Ill./St. Francis H.S.) and junior setter Brittany McGinnis (Fraser, Mich./Fraser H.S.) of the Ball State women's volleyball team have been named to the 2010 Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team as announced by the league office.
A total of 18 student-athletes were named to the team. The number of honorees on the Academic All-MAC Team is the number that is set for the specific sport or 33% of the number of nominees, whichever is greater.
Rio and McGinnis, who are both earning Academic All-MAC accolades for the first time in their careers, combined to help lead the Cardinals to their first MAC Regular Season Championship since the 2002 season. BSU finished the 2010 season with a 24-5 (14-2 MAC) record, including a perfect 12-0 mark in Worthen Arena.
Rio, a criminal justice major with a 3.58 grade-point average, was named the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league and ranking second in the nation with a 5.86 digs-per-set average. A First Team All-MAC selection, Rio was named the MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week four times in 2010. She collected a single-season career-high 639 digs this season, while turning in a .946 reception percentage with just 26 errors in 484 attempts.
The second player in program history and eighth player in league history to break 2,000 career digs, Rio finished her career with 2,089 career digs. She also finished her career ranked first in program history with 20-or-more digs in 49 matches, and second in program history with double-digit digs in 97 matches. Her 5.03 career digs-per-set average is also second in BSU annals.
McGinnis, an elementary education major with a 3.43 GPA, earned Second Team All-MAC accolades after averaging a career-best 10.55 assists per set this season, while guiding the Ball State offense to a .224 rate of success. She handed out 50-or-more assists in four contests, while guiding Ball State to a .200-or-better hitting mark 21 times, including seven matches above .300.
McGinnis led the Cardinals with double-doubles in eight matches in 2010. She also averaged 2.25 digs per set and 0.21 aces per set over the course of the season.
To earn Academic All-MAC status, a student-athlete must excel in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average and participate in at least 50 percent of the contests for their particular sport. First-year studstudents and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
