Palmer Earns All-American Honor
Courtesy of Edgewood College
MADISON, Wis. -- Many phenomenal Edgewood College athletes have passed through the Monroe Street campus, but Mallory Palmer will get to wear a title that few other Eagles have ever worn: All-American. The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Palmer a Second Team All-American for the 2012 season. Palmer is just the second Edgewood College student-athlete in any sport to earn All-American status since the Eagles joined the NCAA in 1994 and the fifth ever.
Palmer already has an entire shelf of awards from her recently completed senior season. The native of Poynette and graduate of Waunakee High School was named the Northern Athletics Conference Player of the Year and was an All-Midwest Region selection by the AVCA. Last week, Palmer was voted to the CapitalOne Academic All-District 6 team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She became the first Edgewood College volleyball player in history to win four consecutive first team all-conference awards.
On October 13, Palmer broke the Edgewood College all-time kills record, surpassing Edgewood College Hall of Fame member Mandie (Armstrong ) Barr (1995-98). Palmer finished the season with 1,821 kills to surpass Barr's record by more than 150 kills. Palmer ranks 10th in the nation this season with 4.3 kills per set. Edgewood College won their first conference title since 1996 and advanced to the championship match of the NAC Tournament before falling to Benedictine University 3-2. With 421 NCAA Division III volleyball teams, Palmer's second team All-American selection places her in the top 28 among an estimated 6,300 volleyball players nationwide. She is the second Northern Athletics Conference volleyball player ever to earn All-American status, but the first to reach the Second Team or higher.
Women's basketball player Megan Scheele is the only other Edgewood College student-athlete to earn All-American status since the Eagles joined the NCAA in 1994. All previous All-American awards were granted while the Eagles were members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) or the former National Small College Athletics Association (NSCAA). The NCAA itself does not publish All-American teams, but allows each sport's coaches association and/or media outlets to choose their own.
Only five Edgewood College athletes have ever been named All-Americans. After Scheele, the most recent was men's basketball player Keith Treinen who was named an NAIA All-American in 1993. Four others have earned honorable mention, including the only other volleyball player to be recognized, Cindy (Mierow) Deering, who was granted honorable mention status by the NAIA in 1990.
