PORTLAND, Ore. – They had a chance to come back for another year of volleyball – and another year of their academic pursuits.
 
Half a dozen Seattle Pacific players are making the most of their opportunities on the court and in the classroom.
 
Those six – Sarah Brachvogel, Hannah Hair, Sydney Perry, Zoe Shuckhart, Erin Smith and Allison Wilks – are part of a group of 12 Falcons who have been named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic team that was announced on Wednesday.
 
All six of them made the team for the fourth time. Joining them as three-time selections are seniors Abigail Cunningham and Emily Tulino. In addition, junior Anna Pelluer and sophomores Coco Barnett, Sophia Chambers, and Christina Lopez, are all first-time honorees.
 
Normally, players can earn a spot on the All-Academic squad for three years (sophomore, junior and senior; freshmen are not eligible). However, all six of those Seattle Pacific players received a fifth year of eligibility from the NCAA after their freshman season in 2020 was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, thereby allowing them to play in 2021, 2022, 2023,and 2024.
 
Because they were academic sophomores in the fall of 2021 even though it was their first official year of competing, they were eligible for the All-Academic team that year, with the chance to make it for each of the four years they played.
 
 

Hair has received numerous accolades, both in the classroom and on the court. She has a 3.91 grade-point average as a business administration / finance and exercise science double-major. Once again, she is the leading blocker and one of the leading hitters in the GNAC, and comes into this week just 14 blocks away from breaking the all-time conference career record of 597.
 
 

Her fellow middle blocker Wilks also has collected her share of academic and athletic honors. She is a nursing major with a 3.92 GPA. Last year, Wilks became the first Falcon in program history to hit north of .400 for a season, finishing at .404. She is putting together another solid year at the net with a .354 mark (No. 4 in the GNAC) and is averaging one block per set.
 
 

Perry is a physiology major with a 3.64 GPA. She already has recorded a single-season best 185 kills, has gotten her hands onto 123 blocks, come up with 75 digs (needing just 10 more to tie her single-season best). Smith is enjoying another productive campaign on the right side with 151 kills and also has factored into 58 blocks, an 0.83 average that is No. 14 on the GNAC list.
 
 

Shuckhart carries a 3.66 GPA as a sociology major. A defensive specialist, she has been on the court for 30 sets, including every set of last week's homecourt victories against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene. She has 66 digs, and tied her career high with four aces in the Central match last Thursday. Brachvogel is a grad student in data analytics with a 3.76 GPA. She has been with the team all year, but has not been able to play because of a knee injury.
 
 

Tulino is a nursing major and has a 3.73 GPA. A setter, she has taken her game to a new level, coming into this week with a career-best average of 7.42 assists per set. She had a career-high 49 assists against Saint Martin's on Oct. 19 then came back five days later against Central Washington with another 49, and recently surpassed 2,000 career assists. Cunningham, with a 3.86 GPA in business administration, has been the regular at defensive specialist, coming up with 166 digs and recently passing 900 for her career. She also has delivered 20 service aces.
 
 

Among the four first-timers on the All-Academic list, Pelluer has a 3.94 GPA as a business administration major, Barnett carries a perfect 4.0 in fashion merchandising, Chambers is in mechanical engineering with a 3.46, and Lopez sports a 3.23 in nursing. Pelluer had career highs of 23 digs and nine kills against Alaska Anchorage on Oct.5. Barnett has had two matches of nine kills and recorded seven block assists at Central Washington on Sept. 28. Chambers put up her 12th career double-double with 13 assists and 13 digs at NNU on Sept. 26. Lopez recently came up with her 500th career dig.
 
To earn All-Academic status, student-athletes must have a GPA of 3.2 or higher, be at least a sophomore, and must be in at least their second year with their team.
 
 
2024 GNAC ALL-ACADEMIC VOLLEYBALL TEAM
 
Name                                    Academic major                                   Year            GPA         Hometown
Coco Barnett         Fashion Merchandising         So      4.00    Fitchburg, WI
Sarah Brachvogel     Data Analyt. / Bus. Admin.    5th     3.76    Mukilteo, WA
Sophia Chambers      Mechanical Engineering        So      3.46    Justin, TX
Abigail Cunningham   Business Administration       Sr      3.86    Tulsa, OK
Hannah Hair          Bus. Finance / Exer. Sci.     5th     3.91    Walla Walla, WA
Christina Lopez      Nursing                       So      3.23    Surprise, AZ
Anna Pelluer         Business Administration       Jr      3.94    Redmond, WA
Sydney Perry         Physiology                    5th     3.64    Cave Creek, AZ
Zoe Shuckhart        Sociology / Criminology       5th     3.66    Univ. Place, WA
Erin Smith           Nursing                       5th     3.68    Carlsbad, CA
Emily Tulino         Nursing                       Sr      3.73    Carlsbad, CA
Allison Wilks        Nursing                       5th     3.92    Bothell, WA