SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara senior setter Kirsten Mead has been named to the WCC All-Academic Team for the third consecutive year, announced by the conference on Wednesday. Mead finishes her Bronco career with the maximum number of all-academic team selections for a four-year player. Jensen Cunningham, Hailey Lindberg and Taylor Odom were also recognized as WCC All-Academic Honorable Mentions.
At the conclusion of each athletic season, the WCC selects an all-academic squad for each conference-sponsored sport. To be considered, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average, while also being a significant contributor to her team.
Mead, a business economics major with a 3.91 GPA, totaled more assists than any player in the conference with 1,227 and finished second in the WCC with 10.58 assists/set. She started all 30 contests and played in all 116 sets of the campaign. This year's First Team All-WCC nod marks her fifth major conference honor (2014 Freshman of the Year, 2x First Team All-WCC, 2x All-WCC Honorable Mention).
The Palo Alto, California native was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District® 8 Volleyball First Team earlier this month. She is currently on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be announced in December.
Cunningham, a senior psychology major with a 3.32 GPA, earned All-Academic Honorable Mention recognition for the second straight season. The middle blocker finished fourth in the WCC with a .347 hitting percentage, fifth with 115 total blocks and seventh with 0.99 blocks/set.
Her 2017 hitting percentage is 39 points higher than her career average and 58 points higher than her previous single-season best of .289 (2016). She hit .433 or better 11 times while starting 29 of 30 matches and playing in all 116 sets as part of a career season that included First Team All-WCC honors.
Lindberg, a junior marketing major with a 3.29 GPA, played in all 30 matches and 107 of the team's 116 sets. The middle blocker finished third on the team in kills (235) and total blocks (68) while posting 10-plus kills nine times. She was named to the WCC All-Academic Team during her sophomore season in 2016.
Odom, a redshirt sophomore economics major with a 3.35 GPA, finished seventh in the conference with 108 total blocks and 13th with 0.94 blocks/set. She ranked second on the Broncos in both of those categories.
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