Volleyball Senior Sheri Middleton Recognized For Her Top-Notch Play On The Court And Outstanding Academics

Bridgeport, Conn.-University of Bridgeport senior Sheri Middleton has been recognized for her top-notch play on the volleyball court and her excellent academics with several awards on Friday. A middle blocker from Humboldt, Kansas, Middleton was named 2017 Second Team All-East Coast Conference on Friday afternoon prior to her team's ECC Championship semifinal matchup against Molloy College this evening. Sheri also received the East Coast Conference's Elite 18 Award winner for volleyball on Friday. The ECC Elite 18 honor is awarded to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average competing in each of the ECC's 18 championships. Middleton possesses a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a Mass Communications major at UB.

An Honorable Mention All-ECC selection in 2016, she moved up to the Second Team All-Conference squad after leading the Purple Knights in blocks and hitting percentage for the second straight season.

Middleton was also recognized for her academic prowess on Thursday with her selection to the CoSIDA NCAA Division II District 1 Academic All-District Team. The 2017 Academic All-District Women's Volleyball Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

The Academic All-District teams include the student-athletes divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the fifth year of the expanded Academic All-America program as CoSIDA moved from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non Division I) and has doubled the number of scholar-athletes honored. The expanded teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division Academic All-America Team combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the Academic All-America Team ballot, where first, second-and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

2017 ECC Volleyball All-Conference
First Team
Kacey Affrunit, Fr., M, Molloy
Carly Banks, So., OH/RS, Molloy
Allison Fowler, Sr., S/RS, NYIT
Rachel Londot, Jr., OH, LIU Post
Karolina Moderova, Sr., OH, NYIT
Danielle Valenza, Sr., OH, LIU Post
Tiffany Verni, Jr., OH, NYIT

Second Team
Kassie Akouri-Tejedor, So., S, LIU Post
Meghan Ballou, So., OH, Daemen
Sheri Middleton, Sr., MB, Bridgeport
Dakota O'Neill, Sr., L, Molloy
Indira Rojas, Sr., L, LIU Post
Courtney Scanlan, Jr., OH, Daemen
Sophia Smith, So., S, Molloy

Honorable Mention
Lea Brady, So., MH, LIU Post
Cassidy Stewart, So., MH, Queens

Player of the Year: Rachel Londot, LIU Post
Libero of the Year: Dakota O'Neill, Molloy
Setter of the Year: Allison Fowler, NYIT
Rookie of the Year: Kacey Affrunti, Molloy
Coach of the Year: Kevin DesLauriers, Molloy

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE LIST OF 2017 CoSIDA ACAMEIC ALL-DISTRICT SELECTIONS FOR WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL