SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's
Avery Hellmuth and
Audrey Poupard were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Women's Volleyball team on Tuesday.
They are the program's first All-District honorees in the NCAA era.
Previously, OBU had five NAIA CoSIDA Academic All-District selections in 2015: Denise Coroiescu, Kaitlyn Lucy, Priscila Mendes, Cat Roth and Carey Strong.
To qualify, a student-athlete had to have possessed at least a 3.50 grade point average, been of sophomore standing and have legitimate playing credentials.
Hellmuth, a junior middle blocker from Dallas, a Social Sciences Secondary Education major and the GAC's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President, was one of the key pieces for OBU.
An All-GAC Second Team selection, she ranked third in the conference with a 0.97 blocks-per-set average and was slotted seventh in attack percentage (.277). Hellmuth recorded double-digit kill totals in seven matches, including a career-high 20 versus Newman on Sept. 2. Plus, she notched at least five blocks in nine games including tying her career-high (8) vs. Southern Nazarene on Nov. 11.
Poupard, another middle blocker, is a senior Psychology (Pre-Counseling) major. During the season, she became the fifth OBU player ever to eclipse 300-plus blocks after recording a pair against Arkansas-Monticello on Oct. 7. She hit .500 on four different occasions and recorded a season-high 12 kills with four total blocks in a 3-1 win vs. Southern Nazarene on Sept. 22. Additionally, Poupard has been named to the All-GAC Academic Team multiple times.
These two helped OBU attain a 19-11 record this fall and second-place GAC finish during the regular season.
