Montevallo Volleyball: Success On the Court and In the Classroom

By: Elizabeth Rhinehart

Stereotypically, student athletes are notorious for slacking off in the classroom. With a busy season, demanding practices and workouts, and days on the road, it can be hard for a student athlete to be academically successful...even with required study hall hours. 

Signing in to the study hall log

But the volleyball team is one of the many sports teams at the University of Montevallo proving those assumptions wrong.

For seven consecutive years, the volleyball team has been awarded the American Volleyball Coaches Association team academic award, which requires an overall team GPA of a 3.3 or higher.

Following the end of the 2015 season, seven Montevallo volleyball players were named to the P-B-C All Academic Team. Four of those players hold a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Senior Rebekah Phelps, who was also named to the prestigious PBC Elite 15 team for the third consecutive year, is one of those four players. Phelps says she has always been very competitive with grades and to motivate herself, she compared her grades with a fellow volleyball player in her major to see who did better.

“She’d be like oh I got a 97 and I’d be like oh I only got a 95 so the next time I had to beat her out. It kinda started with that and from then on I happened to get a 4.0 my freshman year and from then on that’s kind of the standard I set for myself," says Phelps, who is also a two time PBC All Conference player.

The volleyball team has a minimum GPA goal of a 3.0 but this year, the girls are striving for a 3.5 team GPA overall. In order to reach that goal, the team has found ways to set themselves up for academic success.

"Going to class is the most important thing. Once your professors know you and know you’re working hard then they can help you," says sophomore Kristy Bohan who holds a 4.0 GPA.

Student athletes in the Study Room

“You have to be ahead of everything. If you know you are gonna be missing that Friday then Monday you need to e-mail your professor and see what you can get done in advance," says Phelps.

“I think time management is the biggest thing and knowing when to ask for help from your teachers, your classmates and even your other teammates," says sophomore Nicolette Fiessinger who also maintains a perfect GPA.

After last semester, the volleyball team had the second highest team GPA on campus. 

For more information on the Montevallo players who got selected to the PBC All Academic Team click here.

To visit the volleyball team's homepage, click here.