(Gilbert, AZ) The Park University Gilbert volleyball team continues to rack up honors after another banner season. The NAIA has announced its All-Academic recipients and three Buccaneers were named to the squad. Makenna Busse, Amanda Jonovich and Hattie Patton were all tabbed with the honor.
All three players were named Cal Pac Conference All-Academic and now receive national recognition for their prowess in the classroom. They were all also named to Cal Pac All-Conference teams with Jonovich winning the Cal Pac Conference Player of the Year award. Jonovich will also be in line for her second consecutive All-America award which will be announced within the next week.
Busse, a graduate student, owns a 4.0 GPA in Healthcare Administration and will graduate this spring. The Susanville, Calif., native was a second team All-Cal Pac player as she was the most dominant middle blocker in the conference offensively. Busse led all conference middles with 240 kills and hit .388.
Jonovich, a junior from Mesa, Ariz., has a 4.0 GPA in Business Administration. In addition to the being named Cal Pac Conference Player of the Year, she led the names on the all-conference first team. Jonovich was an NAIA All-American a year ago and now is able to add another national honor to her trophy case. Jonovich led the conference in kills per set (3.86) and hitting percentage (.325). She was sixth in total kills but only because she missed the entire non-conference season with a wrist injury. Jonovich played in 81 sets for the season and everyone above her on the list played in at least 20 more sets.
Patton, a senior from Gilbert, Ariz., has a 4.0 GPA in Fitness and Wellness and holds all of the Park Gilbert individual and career digs records and was an honorable mention all-conference player in 2022 after being a first team member in 2021. Patton led the conference in digs with 556 and was second in digs per set at 4.63. Patton has 986 total digs for her career.
The Buccaneers had 12 eligible players with a 3.5 GPA or better in 2022.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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