North Dakota State soccer defender Sarah Panzer and volleyball outside hitter Sheila Parrish each were awarded a $7,500 scholarship from the NCAA for postgraduate study at the university or professional school of their choice.
It was the third straight year the women’s soccer team has had a team member receive the award. Olivia Cole received the honor in 2005 and Brooke Hartman in 2004. Parrish became the second winner in the NDSU volleyball program’s history following Laura Jacobson, who was nominated in 1982. Over the past 11 years, NDSU student-athletes have earned 22 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, 38 overall going back to 1966.
Panzer, a senior defender from Burnsville, Minn., started 71 of 71 games during her career as a Bison, carrying the team to a 40-26-5 record during that span. She was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® third team in 2005 and 2006 after capturing second-team all-district honors in 2004. Named as Division I all-independent honorable mention in 2005 after guiding the Bison to an 11-5-1 record, this season she was named United Soccer Conference Defensive Player of the Week, helping the Bison to a perfect 3-0 record in conference play. From the central defender position, she scored five goals and seven assists during her career, with two of those goals going down as game-winners. She holds a 3.93 grade point average in electrical engineering.
Parrish, a senior outside hitter from Fargo, maintains a 3.92 cumulative grade point average in human performance and fitness (pre-medicine). She was voted to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® third team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America in 2006. Parrish was voted Offensive Player of the Year in Division I independent women’s volleyball this season. She led all independent players in kills (523) and kills per game (4.51) and was named to the Division I independent all-tournament team, and was a four-time pick for Offensive Player of the Week honors during the season, helping NDSU to a 17-13 record.
According to the NCAA’s Web site, the NCAA awarded 58 postgraduate scholarships of $7,500 each to 29 male student-athletes and 29 female student-athletes who participated in fall sports. To qualify for an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall grade point average of 3.2 (on a 4.0 scale) or its equivalent and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team in the sport in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete must have behaved, both on and off the field, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete also must intend to continue academic work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.