Nov. 20, 2007
Navy's Rachel Dougherty was named the 2007 Patriot League Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday by Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich. The scholar-athlete of the year award is voted on by the Patriot League's volleyball sports information directors.
Dougherty earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First-Team Academic All-District honors for the second-straight year in 2007. The physics major owns a 3.89 cumulative grade-point average and holds a 4.00 GPA through the first half of the 2007 fall term. She has posted a 4.00 GPA during four of her six semesters and during her one year of summer school. She is ranked 52nd out of her class of 1,085 on the academic order of merit. The three-time Patriot League Academic Honor Roll member was selected as one of 15 Bowman Scholars by the USNA for this academic year. With this award she will receive one year of schooling at the Naval Postgraduate School, receives early admission into the Navy's nuclear surface warfare community and has to complete an independent study project. Her subject for the independent study is entitled Isotopic Information from Proton Induced Gamma Ray Emission Measurements.
On the court, Dougherty ranked second in kills in both overall (4.50) and League only matches (4.96). The senior outside hitter was second in aces per game (0.54) in the Patriot League and most recently ranked 28th in the nation. The First-Team All-Patriot League selection posted 20 or more kills in eight matches this year and 10 or more kills in 27 of her 33 matches. She totaled four double-doubles this season. She was twice named Patriot League Player of the Week and earned that honor from the ECAC once. The veteran Mid became the fifth player during Navy's 17-year Division I era to record 1,000 career kills. She ended her career with 1,137 kills.
Dougherty is the first student-athlete from Navy to be named Patriot League Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The volleyball scholar-athlete of the year has gone on to be named the Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice (2003 and 2004).
To be eligible for the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. Freshmen are not eligible for this honor.
The Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for each individual sport comprises the pool of nominees for the Patriot League Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards given out over the summer. One male and one female are selected for this honor.
