Wingate’s Brezovec Named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team

Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University junior middle blocker Rebecca Brezovec (Durham, N.C.) has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® volleyball first team (college division), selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). Brezovec earns ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® volleyball honors for the first time.

In November, Brezovec earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III volleyball first team honors. District III (college division) includes all non-NCAA Division I schools (Division II, III and NAIA) in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North and South Carolina. Brezovec has a 4.00 GPA in her Sociology major.

Since January 1, 2000, Wingate University has produced 18 Academic All-America® selections. Wingate entered the 2005-06 academic year tied for sixth among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000s. Brezovec gives Wingate 27 Academic All-America® selections all-time, tops in the South Atlantic Conference.

"Rebecca is one of those truly amazing success stories," Wingate University head volleyball coach Shelton Collier said.

"She is a 5-9 middle hitter/blocker who out-works her competition and finds ways to beat players much taller. She is a student who really has to work hard to get A's in the classroom. Most notably, Rebecca is a person who outwardly cares about others. She is the kind of player that makes coaching rewarding."

This fall, Brezovec was All-South Atlantic Conference (first team) and Daktronics All-South Region (second team) on the volleyball court. Also, she was honored as the SAC Scholar Athlete for volleyball. The SAC Scholar Athlete award is bestowed upon only one student-athlete in each of the league's 14 sports.

In 103 games in 2005, Brezovec had 412 kills (4.00/game), 140 blocks (1.36/game) and a .330 hitting percentage. A junior middle blocker, Brezovec was second in the SAC in hitting percentage. The Riverside High School graduate is 15th in the NCAA Division II in blocks per game.

Brezovec's 4.00 GPA in Sociology has afforded her membership in the Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Chi and Alpha Kappa Delta honor societies.

"This is a great honor for Rebecca," Collier added. "We are very proud of her. I know this means so much to her."

Brezovec is also active on the Wingate campus, serving as a student assistant and tutor for Sociology, a peer mentor to freshman students and a Wingate University Presidential Ambassador. She is part of the Leadership Fellows program, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Wingate Quality Enhancement Committee.

The Academic All-America® Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 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. For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com or e-mail rlipe@bentley.edu.

ESPN The Magazine - winner of the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence - is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.85 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution offering students active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, faith nurturing, career development and community service.

Wingate offers more than 37 undergraduate majors in arts and sciences, business, education, fine arts, music and sport sciences. It also offers pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, education and the doctor of pharmacy degree. Wingate University student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports.