Nov. 6, 2008

Center Valley, Pa. - Army led all Patriot League schools with four student-athletes named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team on Thursday, which was voted on and announced by the College Sports Information Directors of American (CoSIDA).

Bucknell and American each had one student-athlete honored to give the Patriot League six total selections on the All-District teams. Army is part of District 1, while Bucknell and American are in District 2 of the University Division.

Each of Army's four seniors were selected to the Academic All-District team. Rachael Brienling and Briana Stremick were both first-team honorees, while Jamie Clark and Elizabeth Lazzari were named to the second team.

Brienling is a first-team All-District 1 selection for the second year in a row. She holds a 3.52 grade point average majoring in Geography, and is set to enter the Aviation branch. Breinling ranks third in the Patriot League with a .357 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.73 kills per set and adding 44 total blocks in 2008. Stremick holds the top grade point average on Army's team with a 3.94 cumulative mark as a Mechanical Engineering major. She has a team-leading 3.00 kills-per-set average and is second on the team with 61 total blocks and 27 service aces.

Clark and Lazzari have posted identical 3.30 cumulative grade point averages, with Clark as an Environmental Science major and Lazzari majoring in Art, Philosophy & Literature. Clark's 321 career blocks are just five shy of the Army record, and she tops the team and ranks third in the Patriot League with 73 total blocks this season. She also leads the League with a .408 hitting percentage. Lazzari is one of only three players in Army volleyball history to surpass both the 1,000-kill and 1,000-dig marks. Her 1,135 kills rank fifth all-time, while 1,214 digs land fourth.

Bucknell and American each had a student-athlete selected to the first team in District 2. Senior Shannon Pitsch represents the Bison, while senior Rubena Sukaj made the squad from American.

Pitsch earns All-District recognition for the second year in a row. She holds a 3.73 grade point average as an English and History major, and has excelled on the court. Pitsch holds the Bucknell record with 3,430 career assists, and leads the way with 599 assists this season.

Sukaj also receives All-District honors for the second year in a row after making the first team last year. She holds a 3.57 grade point average as a Business Administration major, and has excelled for the first-place Eagles in 2008. Sukaj is the Patriot League and American career record-holder for both kills (1,980) and aces (278). She is a two-time Patriot League Player of the Year.

The District 1 team is comprised of schools from the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. The District 2 team consists of student-athletes from schools in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at his/her current institution. Nominated athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games at the position listed on the nomination form (where applicable).

The four First-Team Academic All-District honors will be on the ballot for Academic All-America honors. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team will be announced on Nov. 24.

To see the entire Volleyball Academic All-District team, click here