July 30, 2012
San Antonio – After coaching the St. Mary’s volleyball team to its first winning record since 2006 last season, head coach Jenny Warmack-Chipman achieved another feat as the Rattlers have been honored with the AVCA academic award for the second straight year, it was recently announced.
In just her second season as head coach, Warmack-Chipman led the Rattlers to their best start in program history, winning their first 10 games of the season. But as represented by the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s academic award, the talent on St. Mary’s runs deep.
In its second straight year receiving the award – and seventh overall – St. Mary’s was one of 67 NCAA Division II schools (12.57 percent) honored with academic excellence which requires athletes to maintain a team grade-point average of at least 3.30 on a 4.0 scale. The Rattlers’ successful work in the classroom made them one of a record 533 winners this year, including all college and high school divisions nationwide.
Expecting athletic excellence on the court is also driven to the classroom by Warmack-Chipman, as the second-year coach has quickly put the Rattlers back in the spotlight for both categories. Contributors to this year’s AVCA academic award included 15 Rattlers: Julie Kells (RS-Fr., Red Deer, Alberta, Canada), Karlie Ortega (So., San Antonio), Melissa Heft (Fr., San Antonio), Victorria Martinez (Fr., Arlington, Texas), Kelsey Davis (So., San Antonio), Kelsey Huber (Fr., San Antonio), Adrianna Keys (Sr., San Antonio), Puafuatausaga Nomura (Fr., Illiili, American Samoa), Allie Murray (Jr., San Antonio), Melissa Dahle (So., San Antonio), Taylor Obermiller (Fr., San Antonio), Mallory Moeller (Sr., Geronimo, Texas), Devan Hartung (Fr., Hondo, Texas), Kirsten Chapman (Sr., Jourdanton, Texas) and Stephanie Proske (La Grange, Texas).