November 5, 2015

Fairley earns volleyball program’s first CoSIDA Academic All-District nod

ORLANDO – Senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) became the first Carson-Newman volleyball player in the program’s history to earn College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District for Division II's District 3 being placed on the first team on Thursday.

ORLANDO – Senior outside hitter Sara Fairley (Charlotte, N.C.) became the first Carson-Newman volleyball player in the program's history to earn College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District for Division II's District 3 being placed on the first team on Thursday.

"It means a lot," Fairley said. "It feels great to get this recognition after working so hard for these past four years. I love being a student-athlete here. I like the challenge of playing a college sport knowing that I have to go to practice and get my homework done helps me balance all of it."

Fairley sports an impressive 3.97 GPA while pursuing an accounting degree. The two-time South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week ranks third in total kills with 316, fourth in the league with 365.5 total points and 38 service aces. Fairley is sixth in the league by averaging 3.16 kills per set and seventh with 3.7 points per frame.

Fairley became the sixth different Eagle since 2014 to be named the SAC Player of the Week on September 22 racking up 36 kills and 19 digs in a pair of victories. Fairley captured her second SAC Player of the Week honor of the year on October 20 after piling up 33 kills and 12 digs in a 2-0 week.

The senior has tallied six double-doubles on the year with 15 double-dig kill matches and eight double figure dig contests on the year. Fairley had never tallied a match with at least 15 kills in her career prior to this season but has reached or bettered that mark seven times this season including a career-high 20 smashes at Queens (N.C.) on September 19 in a four-set victory. She set a career-high with 22 points in a five-set victory over Lincoln Memorial on September 22 with 19 kills, two service aces and a block.

"I definitely want to soak in every game," Fairley said. "It's weird that it is the last season for me so I just want to take advantage of it and play to the best of my ability."

The teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. The Academic All-District teams are broken up into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada separating Division I, Division II and Division III schools.

District 3 is comprised of teams from Conference Carolinas, the Peach Belt Conference and SAC. Conference Carolinas placed one person on the team, the Peach Belt saw two student-athletes take a spot concluding with four players from the SAC.

Carson-Newman has had 20 Academic All-Americans dating back to 1992 with Fairley being eligible to become the first volleyball player for the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees to be selected later this month.

DISTRICT 3 FIRST TEAM

Name	School	Year	Hometown	GPA	Major
Kristy Bohan	Montevallo	Sophomore	Huntsville, Ala.	4	Psychology
Iris Brewer	Wingate	Senior	Cincinnati, Ohio	3.73	Environmental Biology
Rebecca Butler	Mars Hill	Sophomore	Bradenton, Fla.	4	Chemistry
Sara Fairley	Carson-Newman	Senior	Charlotte, N.C.	3.97	Accounting
Rebekah Phelps	Montevallo	Senior	Huntsville, Ala.	4	Education
Shelly Stumpff	Wingate	Senior	Iowa City, Iowa	3.7	Mathematics & Education
Grace Underwood	King (Tenn.)	Senior	Pearland, Texas	3.96	Psychology