Meendering Earns Academic All-America Honors

Lincoln -- Nebraska rightside hitter Nancy Meendering capped an amazing junior campaign by Second-Team GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors on Tuesday. Meendering, the 1999 Big 12 Player of the Year, is the 19th player in school history to earn GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Meendering was a second-team selection and was the only junior named to the first or second team and one of just two named to the entire 18-person team.

Meendering holds a 3.79 grade-point average and was a 1998 and 1999 first-team academic all-district selection. Meendering is involved in several community outreach programs, volunteering for the Husker E-mail program, the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Nebraska leads the nation in GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America selections in volleyball and total sports.

A native of Hull, Iowa, Meendering led Nebraska in kills in 29 of 33 matches this season and set single-season school records for kills per game (5.09) and attacks per game (12.16). Meendering was the only Husker to play in all 114 games this season, leading Nebraska to its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament and 16th NCAA regional semifinal in 17 years. She recorded 580 kills this season, second-most in school history, to lead the Huskers to a 27-6 overall record and a second straight Big 12 title, recording a 17-3 league mark. She hit .303 on the year and led Nebraska with 139 total blocks. She was also third on the team with 320 digs. Meendering's most impressive feat, was her first career triple-double, where she broke Nebraska's single-match kill record with 39 kills against Kansas State on Sept. 22, and had career highs of 21 digs and 13 total blocks.