(Posted March 29, 2011)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College women's volleyball senior Steph Strauss (Penn Hills, Pa./Penn Hills) has been awarded a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for graduate study during the 2011-12 academic year.

Strauss is the eighth Juniata student-athlete to earn one of the coveted NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, and the second in as many years. Jeff Berkey (men's basketball) was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 2009-10.

Previous Juniata recipients include Maurice Taylor (1972, football), Joe Paskill (1980, wrestling), Bob Crossey (1987, football), Kristin Hershey (2000, women's volleyball), Brandy Workinger (2002, women's volleyball), and Scott Kofmehl (2003, men's volleyball).

Strauss will use her NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship to pursue a Master of Science degree online in the sports management studies program at California University of Pennsylvania starting this fall. She was one of 29 female fall sports student-athletes chosen from across all three NCAA divisions to receive an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.

Strauss, who will remain at Juniata as an assistant coach upon graduation, is a three-time All-America setter for Juniata women's volleyball, earning Second team honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in her sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. She completed her career with 3,424 career assists, and stands seventh among Juniata's all-time assist leaders.

During her senior year, Strauss tallied 1,054 assists, averaging 9.94 per set, with 199 kills (1.88 per set) and 226 digs (2.13 per set) on her way to Second team All-America honors. She guided a Juniata offense that finished the season with a .266 hitting percentage, ranked tenth in Division III. Strauss was named to the ESPN First team Academic All-America team, becoming the 20th Academic All-American in Juniata history and just the sixth to gain first team honors.

Off the court, Strauss is a three-time Landmark Academic Honor Roll selection and seven-time Dean's List honoree at Juniata. The sports marketing and management major served as an intern in both the Juniata College J-Club and Sports Information offices, and was president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In 2009, Strauss was the recipient of the NCAA "Elite 88" Award at the Division III Women's Volleyball Championship, as the student-athlete with the highest grade point average of any participant at the championship site.

This past fall, Strauss was named the recipient of the Landmark's Senior Scholar-Athlete Award for women's volleyball, as voted upon by a committee of Landmark athletic directors, sports information directors, and conference officers.

-30-

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.