Wednesday, March 16, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – After earning first-team All-GNAC honors for their production on the court, Central Washington’s Kassidy Malcolm and Alaska Anchorage’s Tennae Voliva were honored for their equally high levels of production in the classroom.

Malcolm and Voliva were each third-team selections to the Academic All-America team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). They were the only two players from the West Region among the 16 players honored.

Both players currently have a perfect 4.0 GPA in their respective graduate programs. Malcolm, a native of Ellensburg, Washington, recorded a 3.83 GPA while obtaining her undergraduate degree as an art studies and public relations major and is pursuing a master’s in administrative management. Voliva, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, boasted a 3.89 GPA as an undergraduate clinical psychology major and is pursuing her master’s degree in the same discipline.

Malcolm excelled on the court this season, earning GNAC Player of the Year honors and D2CCA All-West Region first-team status after averaging 17.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. An efficient three-level scorer, Malcolm shot 48 percent from the field and led the conference in both three-point percentage (.395) and free-throw percentage (.847). Malcolm had key leadership and production roles for a Central Washington team that finished 24-8 and won the GNAC Championships for the first time in program history. The Wildcats notched their first NCAA tournament win in program history against Northwest Nazarene before bowing out in the regional semifinals to Western Washington.

Voliva was the undisputed lynchpin of an Alaska Anchorage team that reached the semifinals of the GNAC Championships and the first round of the NCAA tournament. Voliva led the team in scoring (12.9 points per game), rebounding (seven per game), field goal percentage (.479) and free-throw percentage (.829), where she ranked third in the GNAC. Voliva led all scorers with 20 points in both the GNAC Championships semifinal against Central Washington and the NCAA Tournament first round against Western Washington.

Nominated by and voted upon by members of CoSIDA, nominees for the CoSIDA Academic All-America program must be of sophomore eligibility or greater, must be in their second year at the nominating institution, must be a starter or important reserve for their team and must have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or greater.