Five SAC Volleyball Players Named To ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams

ROCK HILL, SC -- Five South Atlantic Conference volleyball players, including two from Wingate University, have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District volleyball teams (college division), selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America).

Three of the five were named to the First Team, and now advance to the national Academic All-America® ballot.

Wingate's Melissa DeLuca was named to the District III First Team, while Chelsea Cancelliere was named to the Second Team.

Newberry College's Cara Coleman was also named to the District III First Team.

Melissa DeLuca

Cara Coleman

Alexis Rowles

Chelsea Cancelliere

Melissa Powers

Tusculum College's Alexis Rowles was named to the First Team in District IV.

Catawba College's Melissa Powers was named to the Third Team in District III.

The District III College Division consists of all-non NCAA Division I colleges and universities in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or a significant reserve on her team.

District IV includes all colleges and universities from Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Ohio and Michigan.

Members of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team are selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America,

Melissa DeLuca, Chelsea Cancelliere

Wingate, N.C. -- Wingate University senior setter Melissa DeLuca (Bahama, N.C.) has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III volleyball first team (college division), selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). Bulldog sophomore libero Chelsea Cancelliere (Richboro, Pa.) earned Academic All-District III second team honors.

The members of the College Sports Information Directors of America selected DeLuca and Cancelliere for these honors. Twenty-two student-athletes were named to either the first, second or third ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III volleyball team. The six first team members will advance to the national ballot.

DeLuca is a repeat performer, as the four-year starter was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III volleyball first team in 2006. DeLuca is an Elementary Education major with a stellar 3.93 GPA.

A two-time All-South Atlantic Conference performer, DeLuca leads the league and ranks 11th in the nation with 13.06 assists per game. In Wingate's final 2007 regular season match, DeLuca became Wingate's all-time assists leader. The senior has 4,717 career assists. Her 13.06 assists per game this season breaks her own school record set last season.

DeLuca was named the 2006 Food Lion SAC Tournament MVP, helping the Bulldogs earn the tournament crown. The Northern Durham High School product was also named to the 2006 Food Lion SAC All-Tournament team, recording 37 assists in the championship match against Lenoir-Rhyne. In 2006, DeLuca led the SAC with 12.36 assists per game. She also ranked in the top five in service aces (0.51).

In 2006, DeLuca topped the Bulldog charts with 1397 assists. In addition to the aforementioned honors, DeLuca was selected to the 2006 North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association All-State Volleyball Team (college division).

Chelsea Cancelliere earns ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III volleyball laurels for the first time in her career. Cancelliere is second on the 2007 team charts with 3.34 digs per game. She notched a school-record 36 digs in Wingate's final regular season match against Lincoln Memorial University on Saturday.

A graduate of Council Rock (Pa.) High School, Cancelliere is a Sport Management major with a 3.96 GPA. Thanks to the efforts of DeLuca, Cancelliere and their teammates, the Bulldogs have compiled a 30-1 overall record (14-0 SAC) entering this weekend's Food Lion SAC tournament. Winners of 21 straight contests, Wingate enters the tournament leading the nation with a .968 winning percentage.

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private four-year co-educational institution of 2,041 students, offering active learning opportunities through personalized instruction, world travel, faith development, career discovery and community service.

Wingate offers more than 40 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, physical education and sport administration and the doctor of pharmacy degree.

In the spring of 2007, Wingate University awarded its first-ever doctor of pharmacy degrees. Bulldog student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division II sports.

Alexis Rowles

BRISTOL, Conn. --- Tusculum College's Alexis Rowles has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV College Division Volleyball First Team announced College officials Thursday.

Rowles, a 5-4 senior libero from Simpsonville, S.C., has a 3.97 cumulative grade point average, majoring in Elementary Education. She now advances to the Academic All-America® ballot, which will be announced later this month.

Rowles garnered All-South Atlantic Conference honors last season and is a preseason All-SAC pick this year.

She received the SAC Scholar Athlete Award for volleyball this year.

The Hillcrest High School graduate is Tusculum's all-time leader in digs (2,082) and digs per game (4.67 dpg). She is averaging 4.53 digs per game, which are fifth in the league.

She is a member of the South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll. She has also been named to the President's List, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List and is a member of the Alpha Chi Society.

Tusculum has posted a 25-9 overall record, including 11-3 in South Atlantic Conference play. The Pioneers' second place finish in the SAC is the program's best finish since joining the league in 1998.

Cara Coleman

BRISTOL, Conn. - Newberry College's Cara Coleman has been named to the the 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District III College Division volleyball team, as selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Her first team status makes Coleman eligible for Academic All-American honors.

Coleman, a native of Allentown, Pa., has maintained a perfect grade point average majoring in psychology and physical education, while also excelling on the volleyball court.

The senior recently broke the school's all-time kills record and is now the College's only member of the 1,000-kill club. She has earned 1,009 career kills entering this weekend's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament in Jefferson City, Tenn.

Coleman was also named the Newberry College Student of the Month for October and the Chick-Fil-A Newberry College Student-Athlete of the Month in October.

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. Student-athletes selected for Academic All-District honors must be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials. They must possess at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.00 scale). They must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.

College Division District III
FIRST TEAM
Mandy Gerolstein SOUTH CAROLINA-AIKEN Sr. Millersville, Md. 3.97 Biology
Cara Coleman NEWBERRY (SC) Sr. Allentown, Pa. 4.00 Psychology, physical education
Melissa DeLuca WINGATE Sr. Bahama, N.C. 3.93 Elementary education
Margeaux Sinibaldi TAMPA Sr. Venice, Fla. 3.88 English
Joy Daniles GREENSBORO Sr. Wanchese, N.C. 3.96 Math education
Courtney Butrym COKER Sr. Columbia, S.C. 4.0 History
SECOND TEAM
Natalie Schembra COKER Sr. Hilton Head, S.C. 4.0 Business, history
Sam Mitchell MOUNT OLIVE Sr. Boyd, Wis. 3.78 Psychology
Chelsea Cancelliere WINGATE So. Richboro, Pa. 3.96 Sport management
Danielle Higginbotham FLORIDA SOUTHERN Jr. Tallahassee, Fla. 3.77 Business
Jessica Hudock WASHINGTON & LEE Sr. Tampa, Fla. 3.29 Business administration, geology
Jaime Hayes ST. ANDREWS PRESBYTERIAN So. Gulf Breeze, Fla. 4.0 Biology, chemistry
Brittney Wittmer BRIDGEWATER Jr. Springfield, Va. 3.64 Biology
Chelsea Armer SAINT LEO So. San Jose, Calif. 3.55 Marketing
THIRD TEAM
Debbie Sterne VIRGINIA WESLEYAN So. Newport News, Va. 3.88 Sociology
Meijse-Sable Burton BARRY So. Paradise Valley, Ariz. 3.52 Biology
Dani Huffman EMORY Jr. San Diego, Calif. 3.82 Education, French
Melissa Powers CATAWBA Jr. Bennett, N.C. 3.47 Elementary education
Joanna McGrath EMORY & HENRY So. Roanoke, Va. 3.39 Mass communications
Morgan Michelson GREENSBORO Sr. Anchoarge, Alaska 3.87 Business marketing
Beverly Stasis FLORIDA SOUTHERN Sr. Clearwater, Fla. 3.53 Business
Michelle Chandler SHENANDOAH Sr. St. Charles, Mo. 3.25 Biology, doctor of pharmacy

College Division District IV
FIRST TEAM
Jessie Hampson CAPITAL Sr. Lancaster, Ohio 3.58 Health and physical education
Laura Winkler KALAMAZOO Sr. Vicksburg, Mich. 4.00 Chemistry
Tristen Dye NORTHERN KENTUCKY Sr. Millersburg, Ohio 3.93 Accounting
Emily Bell WITTENBERG Sr. Fort Wayne, Ind. 3.70 Education
Alexis Rowles TUSCULUM Sr. Simpsonville, S.C. 3.97 Elementary education
Steffi Graf OHIO WESLEYAN Sr. Poland, Ohio 3.81 English