College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Team

Related Content
• 2018-19 Academic All-America® Teams and Honorees
• Abby Bertics of MIT Headlines Google Cloud Academic All-America® NCAA Division III Volleyball Teams

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CoSIDA would like to thank 2001-02 Academic All-America of the Year recipient Stacey Dales (Oklahoma women's basketball) for her interviews with the 2018-19 honorees. Dales went on to a successful professional basketball career in the WNBA and is currently a reporter for the NFL Network. Follow her @StaceyDales. Thanks to CoSIDA corporate partner Blinder for providing the technology to produce the interviews.


Abby Bertics of MIT Selected 2018-19 Google Cloud NCAA Division III Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year

NCAA Division III Academic All-America® of the Year: PDF  |  doc

AUSTIN, Texas – Versatile MIT senior volleyball player Abby Bertics has been named as the 2018-19 Google Cloud Division III Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
“When I heard that I got this award, my first thought was ‘This is wild. Why me?’ It’s pretty cool to be recognized at this level for doing something that you truly enjoy doing. I love the sport of volleyball and I love the people that it brings with it,” said Bertics, a two-time Academic All-America® selection with a 4.00 GPA in electrical engineering and computer science.
 
“I also have loved the learning that MIT has facilitated, both in and out of the classroom. These past four years, though not always perfect, have been the best of my life,” continued Bertics. “I am really honored to receive this award and grateful to my friends, teammates, coaches, professors, and the MIT athletics department for supporting and enabling me on this journey.”

 

 
Bertics, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter from La Jolla, California, maintained a 4.0 GPA as an electrical engineering and computer science major with a minor in linguistics. She was a two-time first team selection to the Google Cloud Division III Academic All-America Team.
 
Bertics is a two-time American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III All-America selection, earning third team recognition in 2017 and again this year. She was named the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Athlete of the Year in volleyball in both 2017 and 2018. Bertics led Division III in kills per set this season with an average of 4.97 kills per set, a mark that was fifth across all NCAA Divisions. She was second in Division III with an average of 5.69 points per set. She led the NEWMAC in kills (437) and hitting percentage (.304) this season.
 
Off the court, Bertics received the Fulbright Fellowship and will do research in Yekaterinburg, Russia, focusing on natural language processing methods for understanding English second language acquisition by Russian speakers.
 
The multi-talented Bertics was a Google Engineering Intern and developed related posts feature for Android & IOS Google My Business apps. She completed an internship in Paris with Capgemini, developing code for a real-time language translation app for humanoid robot.
 
While at MIT, Bertics designed a pen that links experiences of drawing pictures and making music. She was the MIT Society of Women Engineers technology and web chair and the Sigma Kappa VP of Scholarship.
 
“I could not be more proud of Abby in watching her work so hard to achieve so much over the past four years,” said MIT head coach Paul Dill. “Abby’s selfless leadership, dedication to her teammates, and tireless work ethic make this a well-deserved honor. Quite simply, she makes everything she is a part of better, and I am a better person for having coached her.”

The Division III Google Cloud Academic All-America® program is financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2018-19 Division III Academic All-America® teams.

 

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2018-19 Sport-By-Sport NCAA Division III Academic All-America Team Member of the Year Award Winners
 

Name	Sport	Class	Major, GPA
Mike Aiello, Wisconsin-Whitewater	Baseball	Gr.	Physical Education (Athletic Administration), 4.00 U/4.00 G
Nikolas Angyal, University of Rochester	Men's Soccer	Sr.	Chemical Engineering, 3.99
Abby Bertics, MIT	Volleyball	Sr.	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Will Daniels, Central College	Men's Track/XC	Jr.	Biology, 4.00
Udgam Goyal, MIT	Football	Sr.	Computer Science, 3.92
Elizabeth Jones, Nebraska Wesleyan	Women's Track/XC	Sr.	Exercise Science, 3.92
Kenne Kessler, Hardin-Simmons	Women's Soccer	Sr.	Biology/Pre-Med, 4.00
Shannon Lloyd, Keystone College	Softball	Jr.	Criminal Justice & Psychology, 3.99
Hannah Nield, Gallaudet University	Women's Basketball	Sr.	Education, 3.98
Lauren O’Malley, John Carroll University	Women's At-Large	Sr.	Early Childhood Education, 4.00
Tim Roberts, MIT	Men's Basketball	Sr.	Civil and Environmental Engineering, 4.00
Bebe Wang, Denison University	Men's At-Large	Jr.	Physics & Mathematics, 3.96

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jeff Schwartz, North Dakota State University | Google Cloud Academic All-America® Committee Co-Director for Publicity
Jeff.Schwartz@ndsu.edu | (701) 231-8332