NEWARK, Del. - - Volleyball standout Elly Collins has become the 11th Wilmington University student-athlete to earn Academic All-American status, as the College Sports Communicators announced its four 2023 Academic All-America Volleyball Teams for all NCAA and NAIA Divisions.
To be eligible for CSC Academic All-District nomination, the student-athlete must excel in both the field of play and the classroom. Student-athletes must be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, AND compete in 90 percent of the institution's games or start in at least 66 percent of the games, along with several other criteria.
Elly Collins (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) has been as good in the classroom as she has been on the court this year, graduating with an accounting and finance degree while currently working towards a master's in accounting with a 3.93 combined GPA. She was named the CACC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Region performer, scooping up a CACC best 5.50 digs per set this season.
Collins recorded 644 digs this season, ranking fourth most in all of NCAA Division II. Maureen Reilly led NCAA DII with 688 digs this year and was the CSC Academic All-American Team Member of the Year from Rockhurst University. Collins' 5.50 digs per set ranked ninth best in all of NCAA Division II.
Collins is the 11th Wildcat to earn Academic All-American status and just the second ever volleyball student-athlete. She joins Brittany (Biddle) Corrigan who was named an Academic All-American Third Team member in 2012. Collins joins softball standouts Katie (Warrington) Hugelmayer (2011, 2012, 2013), Corrigan (2012), and women's soccer's Krysta Memis (2021) as Wilmington female student-athletes that have earned the status.
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Taya Beller (3) Wayne State College Jr. 3.72 Business Management
Mackenzie Dufresne University of Tampa Gr. 4.00/4.00 Criminology & Criminal Justice
Emily Edwards (3) Lynn University Gr. 4.00/4.00 Financial Valuation & Investment (G)
Kenzie Foley St. Cloud State University Sr. 3.60 Finance & Statistics
Maureen Reilly (1) Rockhurst University Sr. 4.00 Biochemistry
Teagan Starkey (2) Concordia-St. Paul Jr. 4.00 Mathematics & Actuarial Science
Sabrina VanDeList(1)(4)(5) Colorado Mesa University Sr. 4.00 Elementary Education
SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Nadine Burbrink Regis University Gr. 4.00 Project Management
Erika Bute (2) Augustana University Gr. 3.93/3.67 Sports Administration & Leadership
Elly Collins Wilmington University (DE) Gr. 3.94/3.93 Accounting (G)
Iane Henke Cal State LA So. 3.72 Psychology
Hannah Kinnison Angelo State University Sr. 4.00 Food Animal Science Marketing
Sydney Leffler Colorado Mesa University Jr. 3.63 Exercise Science
Jordan McCormick Wayne State College Sr. 4.00 K-6 Special Education
Lexie Rang Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis Gr. 3.87 Nursing
Cassidy Snider PS Western Univ.-Clarion Jr. 3.53 Early Childhood Education
Rachel Walker (3) Wayne State College Sr. 3.95 Elementary Education
THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Hula Crisostomo Chaminade University Gr. 3.95/4.00 Counseling Psychology (G)
Olivia Olson Univ. of Central Missouri Sr. 3.94 Kinesiology
Larissa Schneid Mercy University Sr. 4.00 Biomedical Science
Bella Ray (2) Lewis University Sr. 3.99 Middle Level Education
CSC Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Maureen Reilly, Rockhurst University
– 1st team Academic All-America® in 2022
– 2nd team Academic All-America® in 2022
– 3rd team Academic All-America® in 2022
– 3rd team Academic All-America® in 2021
– 1st team Academic All-America® At-Large in 2022-23