GREENVILLE, S.C. – Senior outside hitter Elena Hadzhieva from the Mid-America Christian volleyball team was named to the NCCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Scholar-Athlete list, announced by the league office Wednesday night.
To be considered, an athlete must be a junior, senior or graduate student by academic standing, completed at least one semester at the qualifying institution and have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.40 or higher.
The Razlog, Bulgaria native received her first academic honor after accumulating a 3.97 GPA while pursuing a degree in Business Administration at Mid-America Christian University.
Hadzhieva is one of the Evangels unquestioned leaders on the attack, ranking second on the team with 224 kills, averaging 2.67 kills per set on a .165 attack percentage.
Hadzhieva has reached double-digit digs in 11 matches this season and is coming off one of her best career performances against Southwestern Assemblies of God in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinals. Hadzhieva tallied 14 kills in the five set loss, her second-best kills output in a single match in her career. The 5-10 outside hitter notched a career-best 15 against Huston-Tillotson back on Aug. 24.
Mid-America Christian will get the NCCAA National Championship Tournament underway tomorrow at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo. The Evangels will open with No. 4 seed Judson (Ill.) at noon before returning to the court at 4 p.m. to take on top-seeded SAC rival Southwestern Assemblies of God.
