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Rockhurst University Athletics

2024 WVB Seniors

Women's Volleyball

Women’s Volleyball continues to excel on and off the court

By Paul Payton

From left: Sarah Montague, Tera Reberry, Hannah Graves, Kenzie Hines and Maureen Reilly will pursue post-graduate studies next year
While the Rockhurst women's volleyball team is preparing for their annual postseason run on the court, their academics always remain the highest priority off the court.

At Rockhurst, there is a strong academic culture campus-wide, and the women's volleyball team is no exception. The Hawks have accumulated numerous accolades over the years as one of Division II's best volleyball programs on and off the court.

"There has been a long history of success in the classroom on the Rockhurst women's volleyball team," said head coach Trent Jones. "Even with all the individual and team volleyball awards that we have achieved over the years, the most important and impressive is the 17th-straight AVCA Team Academic Award and 13 players earned a 3.8 GPA or higher.

"There is a culture about high achievement both on and off the court."

The AVCA Team Academic Award honors collegiate volleyball teams that maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA.

The Hawks finished the 2023-24 academic year with a 3.76 cumulative GPA and were honored as being among the top 20 percent of team GPAs for the fifth consecutive year.

"Rockhurst is a special place when it comes to student-athletes," Jones said. "The five student-athletes that are about to end their time here at Rockhurst completely embody that student-athlete mantra.

"I am immensely proud of the team on how they balance their academics and still being a top volleyball program in the country," Jones added. "In today's college athletics, that is extremely rare."

The five student-athletes Jones mentioned above are senior middle hitter Hannah Graves, and four graduate students: outside hitter Kenzie Hines, setter Sarah Montague, right side hitter Tera Reberry and libero Maureen Reilly.

While they may be finishing their careers on the court, their off-the-court careers are just beginning. All five student-athletes are heading to professional school after finishing at Rockhurst to pursue their off-the-court dreams.

Graves will head off to physical therapy school, Hines to law school, Montague and Reberry to medical school and Reilly to physician's assistant school.

"I think the continued success in the classroom and on the court is important to continue the Rockhurst brand and the athletics department," Jones said. "When a prospective student-athlete thinks of Rockhurst, I want them to not only think about the opportunity to win matches and championships, but also the degree they will earn and how it will help them as they start life after college."

Other than the 17 straight AVCA Team Academic Awards, four Hawks have combined for six GLVC Scholar-Athletes of the Year awards, a CSC Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for the second time in Rockhurst Athletics history (Reilly in 2023), and 12 Academic All-District honors since 2019.

The Hawks finished the regular season 19-6 and 10-3 in the GLVC, tying for third place. Rockhurst will be the No. 4 seed in this weekend's GLVC Tournament, facing No. 5 seed Illinois Springfield in the conference quarterfinals on Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Williamsville, Illinois.
 
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Players Mentioned

Hannah Graves

#23 Hannah Graves

MH
5' 10"
Senior
Club North
Kenzie Hines

#9 Kenzie Hines

OH
5' 10"
Graduate Student
Springfield Juniors
Sarah Montague

#5 Sarah Montague

S
5' 8"
Graduate Student
Premier
Tera Reberry

#8 Tera Reberry

RS
6' 3"
Graduate Student
Dynasty
Maureen Reilly

#10 Maureen Reilly

L
5' 6"
Graduate Student
MAVS 816

Players Mentioned

Hannah Graves

#23 Hannah Graves

5' 10"
Senior
Club North
MH
Kenzie Hines

#9 Kenzie Hines

5' 10"
Graduate Student
Springfield Juniors
OH
Sarah Montague

#5 Sarah Montague

5' 8"
Graduate Student
Premier
S
Tera Reberry

#8 Tera Reberry

6' 3"
Graduate Student
Dynasty
RS
Maureen Reilly

#10 Maureen Reilly

5' 6"
Graduate Student
MAVS 816
L