Friday, February 18, 2022
PORTLAND, Ore. – A dynamic duo from Central Washington and a hometown hero from Alaska Anchorage were selected to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Women’s Basketball Academic All-District 8 Team, an acknowledgment of their outstanding ability both on the court and in the classroom.
The CWU tandem of junior center Samantha Bowman and senior forward Kassidy Malcolm and UAA senior forward Tennae Voliva all earned selection to the team, which was voted on by the region’s sports information directors. The selections give the GNAC three out of the five honorees for District 8, which comprises the GNAC, PacWest Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association.
Bowman is having one of the most dominant seasons not just in the GNAC, but the entire country. The Zillah, Washington native is averaging 16 points and a Division II-leading 15.8 rebounds per game for the Wildcats. Bowman has gone over 20 rebounds four times this season, including tying the GNAC single-game record with 29 against Concordia Irvine on December 18. She has 16 double-doubles in 20 games played, which is the second-most in Division II. In the classroom, Bowman is a nutrition major with a 3.44 GPA and was named to the GNAC All-Academic Team last week.
Malcolm is currently the conference’s leading scorer at 19.2 points per game. She leads the conference in both free-throw percentage (86.7) and three-point percentage (44.0), ranking 10th in Division II in the latter category. Malcolm, a native of Ellensburg, Washington, has 13 20-point games this season for her hometown Wildcats and has scored no less than 23 points in her last five games with a season-high of 30 against Alaska on February 3. Malcolm graduated with a 3.83 undergraduate GPA with a degree in art studies and public relations and currently has a perfect 4.0 GPA in an administrative management graduate program.
Voliva, an Anchorage native, leads UAA with 11.9 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game this season. In her 2019-20 junior season, Voliva was the only player to start every game for an Alaska Anchorage team that went 31-2 and won the GNAC Championships before the remainder of the season was canceled. She recently scored her career-high of 23 points on February 12 against Alaska. Voliva achieved a 3.89 GPA over the course of her undergraduate degree in clinical psychology and also has a perfect 4.0 GPA in a graduate program.
Voliva earned her second Academic All-District selection. She was last selected in 2020. Voliva and Malcolm were among four four-time honorees to the GNAC All-Academic Team.
The 2021‐22 Academic All‐District Women’s Basketball Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation’s top student‐athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CoSIDA Academic All‐America program separately recognizes basketball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
The GNAC’s three honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All‐America ballot. Academic All‐America honorees will be announced on March 16.