AUSTIN, Texas – Gustavus volleyball player Kate Holtan (Sr., Rochester) has been selected to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-America Volleyball Team, which was announced Thursday. Academic All-America Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
Holtan, a management major with a 3.78 GPA, played and started in 128 career matches in her four-plus seasons helping the Gusties achieve a 96-32 overall record (77-26 MIAC) including the 2018 and 2021 MIAC regular season and playoff championships, and the 2017 NCAA region title. Holtan, who recently earned AVCA Third Team All-America, is also a three-time All-America honorable mention selection, four-time AVCA All-Central Region Team member, and a four-time MIAC All-Conference Team member. This season, Holtan was voted the MIAC Player of the Year. During her first year, Holtan was named the 2017 AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year and MIAC Rookie of the Year.
Through 128 career matches, Holtan holds the Gustavus program record with 1,711 career kills and an average of 3.68 kills per set. She ranks fifth in program history with 1,289 career digs and is one of two players in program history with at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. Her 478 kills this season ranked first in the MIAC and are the second most in program history.
Holtan garners Gustavus’s 124th CoSIDA Academic All-America honor, which ranks first in the MIAC (52 more than the next institution), 13th in NCAA Division III, and 38th among all NCAA divisions. Holtan also earns the Gustavus volleyball program’s fourth CoSIDA Academic All-America honor, joining her sister Nora ’19 as recipients of two honors each. After earning Second Team honors last season, Holtan joins an elite group of 27 Gustavus student-athletes to earn multiple Academic All-America honors.
To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Most Division III Academic All-America Honorees
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology 358
- Washington University 207
- Emory University 192
- Johns Hopkins University 187
- Nebraska Wesleyan University 187
- Augustana College 177
- Carnegie-Mellon University 169
- Calvin 144
- Illinois Wesleyan University 142
- Rose Hulman Institute of Technology 140
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 130
- Case Western Reserve University 127
- Gustavus Adolphus College 124