GNAC release, with complete list (PDF)
 
PORTLAND, Ore. – Symone Tran, one of just five players in the entire Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a grade-point average of 3.80 or higher, tops the list of five Seattle Pacific Falcons earning places on the 2016 All-Academic volleyball team.
 
SPU teammates joining Tran on the squad are second-time selections Lexi Biondi, Colleen Hannigan, and Sophie Kuehl, and fellow first-time honoree Amanda Ganete.

 

A sophomore setter from Portland, Ore, Tran carries a 3.82 GPA as a biochemistry major. On the court, she has racked up 919 assists this fall, putting her on track to become the first Falcon with 1,000 or more since Shelby Swanson totaled 1,105 in 2012. She also has 286 digs, and has recorded 13 assist-dig double-doubles in 2016, putting her at 26 for her career.
 
 

Senior outside hitter Biondi (Albuquerque, N.M) carries a 3.23 GPA as a communications major. She has hammered 171 kills, an average of 3.00 per game, and has gone for double-digit kills in 10 of her 19 matches, Biondi had a season-best 18 kills at Central Washington on Oct. 1 and matched that at home against Western Washington on Oct. 15. In addition, she has had a hand in 27 blocks, three of them solo.
 
 

Junior outside hitter Hannigan (Brentwood, Calif.) owns a 3.64 GPA in business administration. She has put 108 kills onto the floor, the first time in her three seasons as a Falcon that she has been in triple digits. Hannigan recorded her first college double-double on Sept. 9 in a five-game match against Hawaii Hilo with 16 kills and 15 digs, both career highs. She had another 16 kills and a new career high of 20 digs last Thursday against Central Washington.

 

Kuehl (Vancouver, Wash. / Columbia River HS) is a junior defensive and service specialist, and carries a 3.43 GPA in communications. She leads the Falcons in service aces with 23, four more than her previous single-season best. That total includes a career-high five on Sept. 15 at Alaska Fairbanks. Kuehl also tied her career high with 16 digs at Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 29. She has played all 23 matches and been in double-digit digs eight times.

 

Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) has been the team's No. 1 libero all season. She sports a 3.41 GPA in pre-med / physiology. Ganete has 437 digs for the season, and has led the Falcons in 14 of the 23 matches. Her single-match career high coming into the year was 11, and she broke that in the very first match with 18 against Concordia Irvine on Sept. 2. Ganete has gone on to better that four more times, topped by a 30-dig performance on Oct. 15 against Western Washington.
 
To make the All-Academic team, players must be a sophomore or higher, have competed for at their school for at least one full season, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or better.
 
 
2016 GNAC ALL-ACADEMIC VOLLEYBALL TEAM
Seattle Pacific selections
 
Player                Major                    Year    GPA
Lexi Biondi           Communications            Sr     3.23
Amanda Ganete         Pre-med / physiology      So     3.41
Colleen Hannigan      Business administration   Jr     3.64
Sophie Kuehl          Communications            Jr     3.43
Symone Tran           Biochemistry              So     3.82