Avery Acker Named AAC Female Scholar-Athlete Of The Year

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From SMUMustangs.com:

Acker Named The American Female Scholar-Athlete Of The Year
December graduate earns post-graduate scholarship

March 2, 2016

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Commissioner Mike Aresco has announced that SMU senior volleyball standout and 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year Avery Acker has been named the 2015-16 American Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.

The Poth, Texas, native, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America selection, is attending medical school and will receive a $4,000 scholarship to apply to her professional studies.

Acker led the Mustangs to a program-best 27 wins and the school’s first conference championship in 2015. SMU finished with a 27-6 mark overall and 17-3 record in conference play to earn The American’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Acker led the NCAA with 12.45 assists per set, while also setting an SMU and American single-season record with 1,482 assists.

A three-year starter and three-time captain, Acker was named The American Player of the Year and earned Setter of the Year honors for the second time in her career last fall. She also earned AVCA honorable mention All-America honors and AVCA All-Southeast Region accolades for the third straight year.

Acker finished with a 3.941 grade-point average as an accounting major with a minor in chemistry and biological sciences and graduated in December summa cum laude. She is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Leadership and participates in community service projects at the Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas.

The American Athletic Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the conference during the 2015-16 academic year. One male and one female from each of the conference’s 11 member institutions may be named as the winners of the conference’s Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. The conference also names male and female Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and a Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year.