Palmer awarded SSAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year title

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Southern States Athletic Conference released its Volleyball Scholar-Athlete Team on Thursday, and both Alexa Palmer and Kala Emanuelli both made the eighth student-athlete team. Palmer earned the highest honor as well, as she was voted the SSAC Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. 
 

To be eligible, student-athletes must be a sophomore or above in both academic and athletic standing, must be starters or important reserves, have at least a 3.3 cumulative GPA, and have competed in 50 percent of competitions. Graduate students and transfers must have completed one semester at the school. 
 

Thursday's news marks the first time a Loyola volleyball student-athlete has been named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and it's the third time in six years the Wolf Pack has had at least two student-athletes honored. 
 

Palmer has posted a 3.94 GPA as a nursing major in the classroom while being one of Loyola's best attackers on the court. Named to the SSAC All-Conference First and AVCA All-Southwest Region Honorable Mention teams, Palmer led the Wolf Pack with 326 total kills (2.43 k/s) with a .276 hitting percentage.  Defensively, she also posted 69 total blocks. The Gulfport, Mississippi, native was named to the SSAC Championship All-Tournament Team after totaling 63 kills across five matches in the tournament, and she earned SSAC All-Academic, NAIA Scholar-Athlete and CSC Academic All-District honors. 
 

Emanuelli, who has a 3.76 GPA as a marketing major, took over the libero position and was named Louisiana's Libero of the Year after just one season. She earned SSAC All-Conference First Team honors as well, totaling 669 digs (4.9 d/s), which ranks as the sixth-most digs in a single season by any Wolf Pack player in program history. She also tallied 73 service aces, and that was the fifth-most in the NAIA this season and the eighth most by any player in program history in a single season. For the third season in a row, she was named to the SSAC All-Academic Team and was an NAIA Scholar-Athlete, and she received CSC Academic All-District honors for the first time this season. 
 

SSAC Scholar-Athlete Team

Alexa Palmer, Loyola - Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Paige Lowe, Point
Emma McPherson, Mobile
Emily Osborne, Mobile
Kala Emanuelli, Loyola
Kora Wilson, Blue Mountain Christian
Ashlee Kraft, UT Southern
Natalie Bartholomew, William Carey
 

Subscribe to Pack Tracks, a Loyola Athletics Newsletter, for all of the latest information >> https://loyolawolfpack.com/subscribe.aspx. You can also keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.