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Kucerkova Again Selected Patriot League Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Volleyball standout just third PL female to earn the award twice

Karla Kucerkova was named the 2003-04 PL Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. It was the second year in a row in which she earned the award.

July 14, 2004

WASHINGTON - American University volleyball player Karla Kucerkova (Olumouc, Czech Republic/Brno) has been selected by the Patriot League’s sports information directors as the 2004 PL Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming just the third woman in league history to earn the award two times, PL officials announced Monday.

Kucerkova, a business administration major who graduated in May with 4.0 cumulative grade point average, was the first player in PL history to win three consecutive volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. After yesterday’s announcement, she is just the third woman in the PL’s 18-year history to win the overall Women’s S-AOY award twice, behind Fordham’s Lauren Gubicza (1992-93) and Colgate’s Jen Smith (1994-95).

No stranger to academic awards, Kucerkova has won the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Volleyball Academic All-American of the Year award the previous two seasons. She is the first-ever PL athlete to earn such an award.

Kucerkova is coming off a season in which she won the PL Player of the Year award for the third consecutive season -- one for each season in the league -- and set AU career marks for kills (1,765) and kills per game (4.56). Her 598 kills in her senior season are the second-most in a season in PL history and her .338 hitting percentage was tops in the league. In just three seasons competing in the PL, Kucerkova led the Eagles to a 48-0 league record, three straight automatic berths in the NCAA Tournament and compiled the third-most kills in PL history (1,537) and tied for the fourth-highest career hitting percentage (.322).

After the season, Kucerkova was named the PL’s first-ever All-American when she was selected Honorable Mention after earning a spot on the American Volleyball Coaches Association Northeast All-Region First Team for the second consecutive season.