Sports News: Winter 1998-99

December 15, 1998

RICKARDS NAMED GTE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA® OF THE YEAR

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Senior middle hitter Stephanie Rickards (Lansdowne/Upper Darby HS) of the Moravian College women’s volleyball team has been named to the 1998 GTE Academic All-America® First Team College Division selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. She was also named the GTE Academic All-America® of the Year for the College Division, the first Moravian student-athlete ever to win the honor.

The College Division is made up of all the NCAA Division II and III Schools in the nation as well as all NAIA schools. Student-athletes from NCAA Division I schools are named to the University Division Teams.

Rickards, who maintains a perfect 4.00 grade-point average in Secondary Education/English, has also been named to the Middle Atlantic Conference Women’s Volleyball Commonwealth League All-Star First Team, the MAC All-Academic Team and the American Volleyball Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic All-Region Team for the second consecutive year this fall.

Rickards completed the season with a .368 hitting percentage along with a school record 468 kills and 125 blocks to lead the Lady Greyhounds to a 27-7 overall record and the school’s second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs. She also had 276 digs and 38 service aces.

By earning first team GTE/CoSIDA College Division Academic All-District honors for the third consecutive year in late November, Rickards was forwarded to the national ballot. In 1997, she was named to the GTE Academic All-America® Second Team for the college division. To be eligible for GTE Academic All-America® accolades, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 grade-point average, be a sophomore, junior or senior and be a starter or significant reserve.

Rickards is currently playing forward for the Lady Greyhound women’s basketball squad. She is averaging 10.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals a game. She has made three starts for the 4-2 Lady ‘Hounds and had career-highs with 15 points and five steals in the team’s 71-64 victory at Albright College on December 9th.

Rickards is the 11th Moravian athlete to be named GTE Academic All-America® Teams. There have been a total of 15 Academic All-Americans at Moravian including 10 over the past six years.