Women's Volleyball | 6/18/2021 10:15:00 AM
A trio of Empire 8 student-athletes were selected to the 2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-District® Women’s Volleyball Teams, which recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. Alfred College senior Sarah Raeman, Nazareth College junior McKenzie Hart and St. John Fisher junior Alea Steigerwald earned NCAA Division III District 3 honors.
The 2020-21 Academic All-District® Women’s Volleyball Teams, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program separately recognizes soccer honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and the NAIA.
First-team Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in early July.
Raeman is the first student-athlete in Alfred women’s volleyball program history to receive this honor. A biomaterials engineering major with a 3.66 cumulative GPA, Raeman has excelled in the classroom, earning Empire 8 President's List honors. She is also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society, which honors collegiate student-athletes who have excelled both in the classroom and in athletic competition with a 3.4 or higher cumulative grade point average.
On the court, Raeman, a native of Canandaigua, N.Y., earned All-Empire 8 Third team and All-Empire 8 Tournament honors during the 2021 spring season, leading the Saxons with 119.5 points, 110 kills, 2.89 kills per set, and a program-record .267 hitting percentage in 10 games and 38 sets played.
Hart, a native of Apalachin, N.Y., was named Empire 8 Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year in 2019. She was able to make a seamless transition to outside hitter for the 2021 spring season as she earned All-Empire 8 first team accolades in helping Nazareth to a 6-3 record and a berth in the conference championship match. She led the team in service aces with 19 and was second both in kills (98) and digs (139).
In the classroom, Hart has a cumulative grade-point average of 3.70 as a psychology major with concentration in early inclusive education. She also has represented Nazareth on the Empire 8 Presidents' List.
A two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American, Steigerwald became the Empire 8's first three-time Player of the Year recipient in Spring, 2021 after recording 96 kills over 28 sets this season. Steigerwald, who was named the conference's Rookie of the Year in 2018, ranked third in the conference in kills per set at 3.43 and points per frame at 3.98. Defensively, Steigerwald was among the conference's elite with 95 digs.
Now a three-time All-Empire 8 first team selection, Steigerwald, who was named the Empire 8 Championship's Most Valuable Player in 2019 and 2021, had six matches with at least 10 kills and finished the abbreviated 2020-21 season with five double-doubles. She has led the Cardinals to back-to-back Empire 8 titles. A native of Penfield, NY, Steigerwald carries a 3.36 GPA as a biology major.
The Division II and III CoSIDA Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CoSIDA Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA national office.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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