Koster a Finalist for SCAC Woman of the Year

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The University of Dallas recently nominated Jessie Koster (Sherwood, Ore.) for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Woman of the Year. On Friday, the conference released seven finalists with the recent graduate from May being among those that qualified. Koster shined her entire career with the Crusaders, particularly her final two campaigns where she set school records and led NCAA Division III in digs-per-set. Off the court, she amassed several academic accolades and was noted for her contributions as a well-rounded student at UD.

Koster earned four letters for the volleyball team. She anchored the backrow her last two seasons and ranked first nationally in digs-per-set with 6.69 and 7.49 in respective years of 2015 and '16. Each of those marks also set a single-season school record. Koster also broke the single-season record in total digs (854). She ends of Dallas career with the highest all-time totals in digs (2,880) and digs-per-game (6.26).

Koster racked up several postseason awards for her career performance during her senior campaign. This included: American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) West All-Region, SCAC Backrow Player of the Year, All-SCAC Second Team, and United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) All-American. She was voted MVP by her teammates in 2013, '15, and '16.

In the classroom, Koster got the job done with recognitions for CoSIDA Academic All-American and USCAA National All-Academic Team. It was her second time winning the latter honor in her career, with the other being her sophomore year. She earned spots on the SCAC Fall Student-Athlete Academic Honor roll all four years. Last spring, it was announced that Koster was awarded a scholarship from NCAA for any part-time or full-time postgraduate study at a University or professional school from the NCAA.

To be nominated, student-athletes must have completed intercollegiate eligibility in her primary sport by the end of the 2017 spring season, received her undergraduate degree prior to the conclusion of the summer 2017 term and had a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.500 (4.000 scale).

The 2017 Southern Collegiate Athletic Woman of the Year will be selected and announced later this month.