The Lone Star Conference recognized 59 student-athletes for their academic achievements Wednesday evening when league officials announced the volleyball academic awards at the LSC Championship banquet.

      Regular season champion West Texas A&M led the selections to the All-Academic team, placing three on the 14-player squad, followed by Texas Woman's and Southwestern Oklahoma, who each had two honorees. The All-Academic team commemorates both academic and athletic achievement.

      The Lady Buffs' Lauren Thedford was selected as LSC Academic Player of the Year. The junior outside hitter is a political science major and has a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average. She was a 2008 LSC All-Academic selection and a member of the 2008 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District first team. This season, she has played in all 34 matches with 31 starts and notched 22 service aces and 183 kills.

      The All-Academic Team is selected by the league's sports information directors, who vote on the basis of both academic and athletic achievement. To be eligible for LSC academic recognition, student-athletes need at least a 3.30 grade point average and must be at least a sophomore. All academically qualified student-athletes not selected for the All-Academic Team are then named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll.

      Joining Thedford on the All-Academic team were her WTAMU teammates Melissa Harper and Katie Rickwartz, TWU's Jessica Crow and Kendra Coulson, SWOSU's Tara Gibby and Emily Walter, Tarleton State's Shay Gracy, Abilene Christian's Shawna Hines, Texas A&M-Kingsville's Kristin Chancellor, Texas A&M-Commerce's Lauren Flynn, Midwestern State's Tiana Bond, Southeastern Oklahoma's Destiny Brown and Angelo State's Kimber Duncan.

2009 Lone Star Conference Volleyball All-Academic Team

Player, Pos.                         Team                                   Year    Major                                      Hometown

Lauren Thedford, OH         West Texas A&M                Jr.        Political Science                    Carrollton, Texas

Shay Gracy, MB                  Tarleton State                     Sr.       Kinesiology (Master's)          Stephenville, Texas

Shawna Hines, MB             Abilene Christian                Jr.        Business Management         Aurora, Colo.

Emily Walter, MB                Southwestern Oklahoma   Sr.       Pre-Pharmacy                        Azle, Texas

Melissa Harper, MB            West Texas A&M                Sr.       Education                               Peoria, Ariz.

Kristin Chancellor, MB       Texas A&M-Kingsville        Sr.       Psychology                           Bellville, Texas

Jessica Crow, S                  Texas Woman's                  Sr.       Elementary Education           Longview, Texas

Kendra Coulson, L             Texas Woman's                  Jr.        Legal Studies                         Abilene, Texas

Katie Rickwartz, S               West Texas A&M                Sr.       Marketing                               Canyon, Texas

Lauren Flynn, L                  Texas A&M-Commerce      Sr.       Interdis. Studies/Elem. Educ.                              Deer Park, Texas

Tiana Bond, RS                  Midwestern State                So.      Environmental Sciences      Lillian, Texas

Destiny Brown, RS/OH      Southeastern Oklahoma    Sr.       Biology                                   Stillwater, Okla.

Tara Gibby, OH                   Southwestern Oklahoma   Sr.       Marketing                               Sulphur Springs, Texas

Kimber Duncan, L/OH        Angelo State                       Sr.       Communications                   Prineville, Ore.

Lone Star Conference Special Recognition

Academic Player of the Year: Lauren Thedford, West Texas A&M

Commissioner's Honor Roll

Abilene Christian: Aubree Vick, So.; Kelsie Edwards, So.; Jordan Schilling, Jr.; Ijeoma Moronu, Jr.;

Jennie Hutt, So.; Michelle Bacon, Sr.;

Angelo State: Alaina Sivells, Sr.; Kayla Smith, So.;

Cameron: Amber Schroer, Sr.;

East Central: Sarah Henry, So.; Holly Hicks, Sr.; Megan Kimak, So.; Jacqueline Sparks, Sr.; Shayla May, So.;

Emily Holombek, Sr.

Eastern New Mexico: Caitlin Murphy, Sr.; Grace Brandt, Jr; Jessica King, So.;

Midwestern State: Kari Damjanovic, Jr.; Hillary White, So.; Kiara Jordan, So.

Southeastern Oklahoma State: Mashequa Gentry, Sr.; Jackie Arend, Jr.; Gabby Ortiz, Sr.; Jordan Parks, Jr.;

Raelynn Beaty, Jr.; Brittany McDonald, So.;

Southwestern Oklahoma State: Stephanie Parker, So.; Kristen Kaufman, Sr.; Kayla Bader, So.

Tarleton State: Shea McBrearty, Jr.;

Texas A&M-Commerce: Perla Faudoa, Sr.; Amy Addison, Sr.;

 Texas A&M-Kingsville: Casey Chancellor, Jr.; Amanda Waclawczyk, So.; Kirby Krueger, Sr.

 Texas Woman's: Danielle Pegues, Sr.; Sydney Veitenheimer, Jr.; Danielle Veitenheimer, Jr.; Hayley Summers, So.; Arden Richardson, So.; Heather Maddox, Sr.; Katelyn Osborne, So.; Alyson Harlan, Jr.

 West Texas A&M: Natalie Johnson, Sr.