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Hand, Kucerkova Repeat as First-Team Verizon Academic All-District II Selections
Juniors on ballot for Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America Volleyball Team

November 14, 2002

Natalie Hand	Karla Kucerkova

WASHINGTON — For the second time in their careers American University juniors Natalie Hand (Keizer, Ore./McNary) and Karla Kucerkova (Olomouc, Czech Republic/Brno) were named two of seven student-athletes to the first team of the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District II Volleyball Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

With 12 student-athletes selected for the first and second teams, the two will be placed on the ballot for the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-America Volleyball Team to be announced on Thurs., Dec. 5. To be nominated for the honor, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average and a starter or key reserve her team.

"We are very proud of both Natalie and Karla," said AU Head Coach Barry Goldberg. "They are great student-athlete representatives of our school and our program."

Hand, a Middle Eastern Affairs/International Development/Political Studies major, maintains a 4.0 GPA while playing the libero position on the AU volleyball team. She has participated on a summer internship in Morocco while also earning several scholarship and academic awards in her concentration.

Kucerkova, the 2001 Patriot League Player of theYear and Scholar-Athlete of the Year, has a 3.96 GPA in Business Administration. She leads the league in kills for a second straight season as the Eagles have a 29-0 record in the Patriot League in their two seasons as being members.

Both Hand and Kucerkova helped the American volleyball team to a 2001-02 AVCA/Molten Team Academic Award with a team GPA of 3.51.

Bucknell's Breean Trapasso was named to the second team as the third Patriot League representative. Joining Hand and Kucerkova on the first team were Marshall's Isabell Anderer, Seton Hall's Kari Berlin, Towson's Lisa Chapman, UMBC's Jennifer Davis and Pennsylvania's Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan. On the the second team was George Washington's Sarah Hokom, Seton Hall's Shawn McDonald, Duquesne's Sarah Morrow and Rutger's Lauren Venarchik.

This weekend American host Navy at Bender Arena at 7 p.m.

American University, which fields a 19-sport NCAA Division I athletics program featuring 10 women’s sports and nine for men, recently completed its inaugural year of membership in the Patriot League. The University had an extremely successful year to date on respective fields of play, capturing league championships in men's cross country, women's cross country, men’s soccer, women's soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s tennis and women’s tennis, and regular-season titles in men’s basketball and women’s lacrosse.

Chartered by an Act of Congress in 1893, American University features students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 160 nations worldwide.