The Valparaiso University volleyball team had five players earn Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete accolades as announced by the conference office Tuesday, highlighted by a conference-best three players earning Scholar-Athlete First Team honors.

Seniors Katherine Carlson (Lake Orion, Mich./Notre Dame Prep) and Allison Ketcham (Mishawaka, Ind./Marian) were joined by sophomore Rylee Cookerly (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) on the Scholar-Athlete First Team. Sophomore Brittany Anderson (East Chicago, Ind./Bishop Noll) and senior Sydney Bronner (Frankenmuth, Mich./Frankenmuth) were both on the Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention Team.

Carlson earned a spot on the First Team after picking up Honorable Mention accolades last season. She leads Valpo in both kills and service aces this season and ranks third on the team in digs. For her career, Carlson ranks fifth in program history in career service aces and seventh in kills. Carlson owns a 3.94 cumulative GPA as a business management and sports management double major.

Ketcham is a First Team MVC Scholar-Athlete for the second straight year and was named a CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District honoree just last week. She ranks second on the team this year in both kills and digs. Ketcham enters this week’s MVC Tournament fifth in program history in career digs, just 12 out of fourth position, and ninth in career kills. Ketcham owns a 3.99 cumulative GPA as an exercise science and psychology double major.

In her first season eligible for the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team, Cookerly rounded out the trio of Valpo players who earned First Team honors. The sophomore, who was a CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-District honoree, leads Valpo and ranks third in The Valley in digs/set, and is second nationally among all active players in career digs/set. She enters the MVC Tournament eighth on Valpo’s single-season digs chart with 632 digs, her second consecutive season with at least 600 digs. Cookerly owns a 3.94 cumulative GPA as a nursing major.

Anderson ranks fourth in The Valley in assists/set, and besides leading Valpo in assists, she ranks second in blocks and fourth in digs as well. She became the fastest player in Valpo history during the rally scoring era to 2,000 career assists earlier this season, and next time out will move into eighth in program history in career assists. Anderson owns a 3.65 cumulative GPA as a sports management major.

Bronner picked up MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention accolades for a second straight season. The senior leads Valpo and is currently fifth among MVC players in hitting percentage. She also ranks third on the team in blocks/set and is just two blocks shy of 300 for her career. Bronner owns a 3.74 cumulative GPA as an elementary education major.