Volleyball Standout Anna Schrad Highlights Husker Graduates

Lincoln ? Former volleyball standout Anna Schrad is among the 60 University of Nebraska student-athletes scheduled to graduate during spring ceremonies.

Schrad, who will begin medical school in the fall, was a standout performer on the court and in the classroom for the Husker volleyball program, helping NU to the 2000 national title and three Big 12 titles in four years. 

A three-year starter at outside hitter, she was selected to three all-tournament teams in 2003, and finished the year averaging 3.09 kills per game while appearing in all 33 matches.  She totaled 986 kills and 866 digs in her four years at NU, as she played in 131 matches during her career. Off the court, she was a Big 12 Postgraduate Scholarship winner in 2004, a three-time academic All-Big 12 selection and was a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2003.

The 60 University of Nebraska student-athletes, which includes 12 individual All-Americans across NU’s men’s and women’s athletic programs, is scheduled to graduate during spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.  Along with its impressive size, the 60-member graduating class also features illustrious individual and team accomplishments among its graduates, who combined to win 40 All-America awards, nine individual national titles and two national team titles at NU.

Nebraska Associate Athletic Director for Academic Programs and Student Services Dennis Leblanc said the May 2005 graduating class consists of strong examples of student-athletes who have the ability to excel in the classroom, in the community and in competition. The Husker graduating class, which is made up of student-athletes from 18 U.S. states and four foreign countries, is one of the largest in recent memory from the Nebraska Athletic Department and features representatives from nearly all of the Huskers’ 23 varsity programs. 

“I truly admire each one of these Nebraska student-athletes for the way they have balanced school with competition,” Leblanc said.  “These 60 graduates add to Nebraska’s tradition of student-athletes performing at the highest level in academics and athletics.  This is a special group of people who came from all across the globe to get an education and represent the University of Nebraska in their sport.  The athletic department, the University and the entire state of Nebraska should be proud.”

The spring graduating class of 60 is added to the December class of 28 graduates to bring the total number of Husker student-athletes graduating during the 2004-05 academic year to 88.  Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the nation with an exhausted eligibility graduation rate of 91 percent.