Nov. 5, 2009

BEMIDJI, Minn. -- Bemidji State University sophomore setter Courtney Bitter (Bemidji, Minn.) has been named to the ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic Second-Team All-District V, personifying what it means to be a student-athlete at BSU, competing at a high level in the classroom and on the court.

Bitter is honored in her first year eligible for the award. The last Beaver to be named to an academic all-district team was Brittney Carlson in 2005 as a third team member. In 2004, Kristin Smith was named to the academic all-district first team and moved on to be named third-team academic all-america.

Bitter holds a 4.00 grade point average in physical therapy at Bemidji State. On the court, she is first on the team in assists with 920 (9.48 a/s) and service aces with 20 (0.21 sa/s), is third in digs with 257 (2.65 d/s) and fifth in kills 120 (1.24 k/s). Bitter sits eighth on BSU’s career assists chart (since 1980) with 1,804 set assists. She posted her first-career triple double Oct. 2 with 46 assists, a season-high 19 digs and a career-high 11 kills. The triple-double was just the 11th (as of Sept. 28) in Division II in 2009 and the first in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Bitter owns six 45-plus assists matches this season and seven in her career, including three 50+ performances this season with 50 at Winona State University (Sept. 25), 51 against St. Cloud State University (Nov. 4) and a career-high 52 against Southwest Minnesota State university (Sept. 11). She has a team-high 11 double-doubles. Bitter was named to the University of Nebraska-Kearney All-Tournament team after guiding BSU to a 3-1 start.

The academic all-district teams are nominated and selected by College Sports Information Directors of America members. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s games at the position listed on the nomination form (where applicable). In baseball and softball, pitchers must have at least 10.0 innings pitched. Athletes who have not participated in at least 50 percent of their team’s contests are not eligible. No student-athlete is eligible until he/she has completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution and has reached sophomore athletic eligibility. In the cases of transfers, graduate students and two-year college graduates, the student-athlete must have completed one full calendar year at the nominating institution to be eligible. Nominees in graduate school must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better both as an undergrad and in grad school.

BSU travels in its final NSIC road trip of 2009 Nov. 6-7 to Augustana College and No. 14 Wayne State College, respectively.

College Division V
FIRST TEAM
Name, School, Dist., Yr., Hometown, GPA, Major
Courtney Ambrosch, ST. FRANCIS (IL), V, Sr., Joliet, Ill., 4.00, Accounting
Lauren Brown, WINONA STATE, V, Sr., Madison, Wis., 4.00, Biology
Sara Graf, SW MINNESOTA STATE, V, Sr., Mount Pleasant, Iowa, 3.93, Accounting
Emma Jaynes, SAINT BENEDICT, V, Sr., Hibbing, Minn., 3.85, Accounting
Maggie McNamara, CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL, V, Sr., Zumbrota, Minn., 3.78, Mathematics
Mary Slinger, CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL, V, Sr., Faribault, Minn., 3.95, Chemistry / biology
SECOND TEAM
Name School Dist. Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Courtney Bitter, BEMIDJI STATE, V, So., Bemidji, Minn., 4.00, Physical therapy
Kyley Crotty, ST. THOMAS (MN), V, Sr., Maplewood, Minn., 3.70, Biology
Alyse Karls, WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER, V, Sr., Dane, Wis., 3.88, English
Stephanie Ryding, NORTH CENTRAL, V, Sr., Naperville, Ill., 3.93, Management
Stephanie Sagat, LEWIS, V, Sr., Darien, Ill., 3.69, Elementary education
Kyleigh Turner, INDIANAPOLIS, V, Sr., Muncie, Ind., 3.93, Business education
THIRD TEAM
Name School Dist. Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Allison Fanta, MINNESOTA DULUTH, V, So., Hillsboro, Wis., 4.00, Business administration
Beth Hanson, SAINT BENEDICT, V, Sr., Faribault, Minn., 3.76, Elementary education
Cassie Hunt, WISCONSIN-EAU CLAIRE, V, Sr., Chippewa Falls, Wis., 3.92, Elementary education
Molly Larkin, TAYLOR, V, Sr., Excelsior, Minn., 3.92, History / political science / Spanish
Kelly Lovett, CARLETON, V, Jr., Portland, Ore., 3.82, Political science
Brittanie Paulus, LAKELAND, V, Sr., Belgium, Wis., 3.52, Sociology
Ellie Peckham, EDGEWOOD, V, Sr., Richland Center, Wis., 3.87, Nursing
Leah Pelzel, ROSE-HULMAN, V, So., Loveland, Ohio, 3.91, Biomedical engineering
Brianne Stankus, WISCONSIN -LA CROSSE, V, Sr., Burlington, Wis., 3.58, Exercise sport sci. / phys. edu.
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