GREENWOOD, Ind. – The 2017 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District Volleyball Teams were released Thursday and Gustavus junior setter Nora Holtan (Rochester, Minn.) was named to the seven-member District 6 Team, which features student-athletes of institutions from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.
The Academic All-District award is the first for Holtan, but adds to a decorated list of honors as she was named AVCA First Team All-America for the second consecutive season and Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Player-of-the-Year for the second straight year as well. Holtan became the third-straight Gustavus volleyball player to be named MIAC Player-of-the-Year in the 28 years of the award. In 2015, Holtan was named AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year.
Holtan guides the Black and Gold offense and has recorded 1,147 assists (17th/NCAA), averaging 10.15 per set. Nora also surpassed the 3,000-assist mark earlier this season and currently ranks fourth in program history with 3,346 assists. An all-around leader for the Gusties, Holtan has tallied 164 kills (1.45 per set), 340 digs (3.01 per set), 33 blocks (0.26 per set), and 29 aces (0.29 per set). While owning a .273 attack percentage, Holtan has tallied double-digit numbers in 18 matches this season.
This year’s CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 Team includes three other members of MIAC institutions – Ellie Meyer of St. Thomas, Kristin Stern of Bethel, and Lucy Stevens of Carleton. First-team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot, where first-, second-, and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month. Out of 108 all-time CoSIDA Academic All-Americans at Gustavus, there has never been a Gustie volleyball player to earn the distinction.