Courtesy: Stanford Athletics
STANFORD, Calif. – Jordan Burgess, a senior outside hitter for the sixth-ranked Cardinal, has been named the Pac-12 Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's volleyball, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today.
Burgess is a human biology major at Stanford with a 3.62 GPA. She has also been named a top-10 finalist for the Senior CLASS Award this season. Last year, she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America second team, Stanford's first Academic All-American since 2011. She is also a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic honoree, earning first team recognition this season.
The Fort Myers, Florida native is averaging 1.99 kills and 1.90 digs per set this season. In 2014, she became just the ninth Cardinal player to record 1,000 career kills and digs. She is currently sixth all-time at Stanford with 1,312 career digs. Burgess is a two-time AVCA All-American, earning first team accolades as a junior. She is also a two-time Volleyball Magazine Second Team All-American and has helped lead the Cardinal to two Pac-12 titles (2012, 2014) and an appearance in the 2014 Final Four.
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 school may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport's regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.
No. 6 Stanford, the eighth overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, plays host to New Mexico State in the first round on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. The winner will face the winner of the Colorado State-Loyola Marymount match on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.
Also Nominated:
Bianca Arellano, ASU; Nicole Edelman, COLO; Haley Clarke, OSU; Rachel Inouye, UCLA; Alicia Ogoms, USC; Kendall Cygan, UTAH; Melanie Wade, WASH.