XU volleyball repeats as an NAIA Scholar-Team

NEW ORLEANS — For the second consecutive academic year, Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball made the grade as an NAIA Scholar-Team. The NAIA announced the award Wednesday.

For a team to be considered for the NAIA Scholar-Team award, it must have a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale as defined by the institution. The team GPA includes all eligible varsity student-athletes. The Gold Nuggets compiled a 3.29 GPA.

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"We are very keen on emphasizing the student portion of student-athlete and staying as focused in the classroom as we are on the court," XU head coach Hannah Lawing said. "Our girls come in with a career plan that's unlike most student-athletes in college. They plan to pursue what they are majoring in and are dedicated to that career path. (Assistant coach) Hilary (Lobenstein) and I do our best to promote academics, and our girls know coming into our program that we don't take less-than-average grades lightly."

Chinedu Echebelem was a Capital One Academic All-District 2 first-team selection in December, and she and 11 teammates — Jada Broussard, Ralitsa Hadzhistoyanova, Jodi Hill, Kayla Jones, Franziska Pirkl, Taylor Reuther, Kaelan Temple, Jelena Vujicic, Simone White, CeCe Williams and Aliyah Wilson — were named to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll in June. Echebelem, Hill, Pirkl, Reuther and Temple produced GPAs of 3.5 or higher for the academic year.

Xavier was one of 140 women's volleyball teams honored by the NAIA.

Xavier was successful on the court, too. For the fourth straight year, the Gold Nuggets won GCAC regular-season and tournament championships and qualified for the NAIA National Championship.
"We are extremely proud of our student-athletes' successes outside of volleyball and hope to make this honor a tradition," Lawing said.

There are 1,502 NAIA Scholar-Teams in 21 sports in 2014-15. The GCAC has five members represented with a combined 10 NAIA Scholar-Teams.

The Gold Nuggets, 20-6 a year ago, will open their 2015 season in late August.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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