Cari Jensen Named Third Team Academic All-America
Dec 11, 2002 | Volleyball
Dec. 11, 2002
Stamford, Conn. - Kansas State junior outside hitter Cari Jensen became just the second Wildcat in the program's 29-year history to earn recognition to an Academic All-America team on Wednesday, as she was selected to the Verizon/CoSIDA University Division Academic All-America third team for volleyball.
A native of Fowler, Colo., Jensen is the first Wildcat in exactly 20 years to earn the accolade and the first since Jennifer Koehn was named a member of the Academic All-America third team in 1982. Jensen qualified for the honor after earning Academic All-District VII first team honors on Nov. 14.
"This is a tremendous honor for Cari," said Wildcat head coach Suzie Fritz. "Like all our players, she works hard to be the very best on and off the court. She was a big reason that we were able to be so successful this season. However, this honor is not only great for her, but for the entire program. As evidenced by the fact that we had four players nominated to the all-district team and several others that qualified, this team does a great job of balancing academics and playing volleyball."
Jensen, who maintains a 3.96 GPA in kinesiology, was one of 23 players to make the first, second or third team. Of the 23 players selected, 15 had a GPA of 3.90 or higher, including five with perfect 4.0 GPAs. The lowest GPA of those selected was a 3.67. Jensen was one of four players from the Big 12 Conference to earn the honor, joining first team selection Laura Pilakowski of Nebraska and second team honorees Elizabeth Gower of Colorado and Amber Holmquist of Nebraska. Jensen was one of a school-record seven Wildcats to earn first team Academic All-Big 12 honors on Nov. 19.
A starter at one of the outside hitter spots for Kansas State all season, Jensen was one of a school-record three Wildcats to earn first team All-Big 12 Conference honors at season's end, joining teammates Lauren Goehring and Gabby Guerre. She narrowly finished second to Goehring for the team lead in kills (364) and kills per game (3.57), while she was also the runner-up to Goehring in total points (413.5) and points per game (4.05). For the season, Jensen averaged 3.57 kills per game on .229 hitting with a 0.20 service aces per game, 1.39 digs per game and 0.50 blocks per game. She totaled double-digit kills in 22 of the Wildcats' 30 matches, including 16 of the 20 matches in Big 12 play. Jensen was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the third time on Oct. 28.
Kansas State saw its 2002 season end in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 7, as 11th-ranked Washington State pulled out a 32-30, 21-30, 30-22, 31-29 win to advance to the Sweet 16. The Wildcats advanced to the second round for the fifth straight season on Friday in their 30-26, 30-25, 35-33 first-round victory over Michigan. K-State, which was making its seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, hosted first- and second-round action at Ahearn Field House for second straight season in 2002. The team finished the season with a 21-9 overall record and 16-4 mark in Big 12 Conference play, marking the fourth consecutive season that the program has earned at least 20 wins. The Wildcats tied or broke several school records in 2002, including consecutive wins (13 from Oct. 2 to Nov. 20), road conference wins (eight), conference finish (second) and conference wins (16).
Jensen will be one of five starters and nine letterwinners returning for Kansas State in 2003. The Wildcats will be returning all four all-conference selections as well as the Big 12's inaugural winner of the Libero of the Year, Laura Downey-Wallace.
