LAKEWOOD, N.J. (Nov. 22, 2022) - Awards season rolls on for fall sports today with the College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District Volleyball awards released. The CSC unveiled their honorees with three from Georgian Court making the team.
The All-District awards, selected by the CSC, recognize top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. In order to be eligible academically, student-athletes must carry a GPA of 3.50 or greater and be in the second year at the current institution. Current graduate student transfers are eligible in their first year. Athletically, student-athletes must be a starter or primary reserve and have competed in at least 50% of the team's contests.
Making the 2022 Academic All-District Team are
Jana Borkovic,
Emma Gildea and
Nylene Mateo. This is the first time there have been more than one Academic All-District nominee from Lions Volleyball. The only other to make the team was Emily McCurley in 2019.
Jana Borkovic is a Psychology major from Belgrade, Serbia. She has a 3.85 cumulative GPA. This season, Borkovic was third in the CACC with 4.47 digs per set which is the second-highest per match total in Lions history. She played in 25 matches and 88 sets, totaling 393 digs, 92 assists and 29 service aces. In 25 matches, Borkovic had 19 matches in double-figure digs and eight with 20 or more.
Emma Gildea from Manahawkin, N.J. just finished her sophomore season with the Lions. She is a Business Administration major with a 3.84 GPA. After playing sparingly as a freshman, Gildea become a vital part of the Lions front row. She led the team with 0.64 blocks per set and 65 total blocks. Gildea played in all 33 matches and 102 sets also picking up 101 kills and 28 digs along with 14 service aces.
Nylene Mateo, a junior from Bogota, N.J. sports a 3.63 GPA in Psychology. She put together one of the best offensive seasons in GCU history in 2022 making the All-CACC First Team. She led the Lions and the CACC this year with 4.78 kills per set and 5.55 points per set. Those marks put her in the top-five nationally in Division II at the end of the regular season. In addition to leading the team's offensive attack, Mateo was second at GCU with 52 service aces and her 0.58 aces per set were fifth in the league. Defensively, her 2.33 digs per set and 210 digs were career highs and ranked third on the Lions. In 26 matches, Mateo hit .225 and reached 10+ kills in 22 and 20+ in seven with three 30+ kill matches. She was the only player in the CACC to average more than five points per set and one of just seven in all of Division II. Her 499.5 points were the sixth most ever in a single-season and her 430 kills were the fourth-most. She's also now just the fifth Lion to ever hit for 300 kills and 50 service aces in the same season.
All three are now eligible for the CSC Academic All-American team which will be announced in December.
