BRADFORD, Pa. – The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's volleyball and women's swim teams have been honored by the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference as 2017-18 Team Peak Performers for having the highest cumulative grade point average in their respective sports, conference officials announced Tuesday.
The AMCC began awarding the Team Peak Performers for the first time in the 2013-14 season. Since then, Pitt-Bradford has had two sports honored: 2013-14 women's bowling (3.11 GPA) and 2014-15 women's basketball (3.408 GPA).
This is the first time in the award's history that Pitt-Bradford has had two sports honored during the same year.
The Pitt-Bradford women's volleyball team holds a team GPA of 3.488 to lead all other AMCC women's volleyball programs.
"I'm just very proud of this team and these girls for what they have accomplished on and off the court," Head Volleyball Coach Tom Roof said. "They're very driven and work hard at being successful. They know what it takes to win and to excel in the classroom. I believe this AMCC Peak Performance Award, having the highest team GPA of any other volleyball team in the conference, is a testament to the type of student-athletes we bring into our volleyball program here at Pitt-Bradford -- and that's a huge reason for our success."
The Panthers went 7-2 in conference matches and earned a share of the AMCC regular-season championship. Pitt-Bradford swept the month of October, winning all eight matches while taking 24 of 25 sets played.
Emily Cleveland was named the AMCC Newcomer of the year while Erin Fagan, Riley Anderson, Payton Orzech and Laura Hildebrand earned All-AMCC honors. Fagan was named to the AMCC All-Sportsmanship Team as well.
The Pitt-Bradford women's swim team holds a GPA of 3.361 to lead all AMCC women's swim programs.
"This is an extraordinary honor for our women," Head Swim Coach Doug Alban said. "They are a very tough group putting forth a lot of hard work in the pool. They exceed that in the classroom, and this award reflects that. They are great representatives of a Pitt-Bradford student-athlete."
At the 2018 AMCC Championship Meet, Jillian Wright finished third in the 200-breaststroke finals (2:42.10) and came in fourth in the 100-breaststroke with a school-record time of 1:14.91. Wright also represented Panthers women's swim on the AMCC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team.
The 800-freestyle relay squad of Wright, Kayla Broad, Danica Andrews and Beyleigh Duda finished fourth with a time of 9:28.77.
This is the second academic honor this year for the Pitt-Bradford women's swim program, which was named a College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America team for the Fall 2017 Semester.
The AMCC announced the Team Peak Performers as part of its Division III Week celebration and recognition and will release honors all week.
