AUSTIN, Texas – The Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball program once again showcased its prominence on the national level with three student-athletes being named to the Academic All-America® NAIA Women's Volleyball team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Headlining the team was graduate student Giovanna Tapigliani, who was selected as the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for NAIA Women's Volleyball for the second consecutive season, graduate student Isidora Stojovic on the First Team, and senior Manuela Vargas on the Second Team.
 
The trio, who were each named to the 2021 NAIA All-Tournament Team after the Spartans successfully defended their national title two weeks ago, are the 25^th, 26^th and 27^th CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in school history. Women's Volleyball becomes the first MBU program to secure three honorees in a single season.
 
On Friday, Tapigliani was announced as the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year for Women's Volleyball for the second straight season and will be in the running for a second Overall Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year award, which will be announced in July 2022. A 4.0+ student in both her undergraduate and graduate studies, Tapigliani was honored this October at the Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet as the 2020-21 MBU Female Scholar-Athlete Award winner. The São Paulo, Brazil opposite hitter has added to an already outstanding resume that includes back-to-back NAIA national championships, back-to-back NAIA All-Tournament Team, back-to-back NAIA All-America First Team, and other All-Region and All-Conference awards.
 
One of three repeat First-Team selections, Tapigliani finished the year with a team-best 432 kills, a .353 hitting %, 87 blocks and team-best 39 service aces while ranking in the NAIA Top 20 in points per set (8^th), kills per set (12^th) and hitting % (19^th).
  
Joining Tapigliani on MBU's short list of two-time CoSIDA Academic All-America® First Team honorees was outside hitter Isidora Stojovic, a graduate student in the MBA program after earning her bachelor's in Psychology in May. Although Stojovic was unable to corral a third NAIA All-American award (Third Team – 2020-21, Honorable Mention – 2019) this year, the Belgrade, Serbia native ended on a high note as she was named to the prestigious NAIA All-Tournament Team in Sioux City for the first time in her career. A three-time All-Midwest Region and All-AMC First Team selection, Stojovic finished her time in navy & white as a back-to-back national champion with 829 kills, 3.15 kills per set, and a .241 hitting %.
 
Manuela Vargas' list of awards and honors, which has exploded over the past two years, now includes a CoSIDA Academic All-America® Second Team nod. In 2021 alone, Vargas was named NAIA Setter of the Year, NAIA All-America First Team, NAIA National Championship Setter of the Tournament, NAIA National Championship Tournament MVP, AVCA All-Midwest Region Co-Player of the Year and Setter of the Year, AMC Player and Setter of the Year, all while leading the team to repeat national championship. Carrying a 3.46 GPA in Psychology, Vargas has cemented her place as one of the top setters in NAIA history after recording 12.40 assists per set, the highest average among NAIA setters dating back to 2008.
 
Tapigliani, Stojovic, and Vargas will all be honored at next year's Spartan Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet scheduled for Thursday, October 22, 2022.
 
Acknowledged as one of the most selective and prestigious awards in all of college athletics, the CoSIDA Academic All-America® program recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performance on the court and in the classroom. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 cumulative GPA, be an important starter/reserve, and have completed one full calendar year at his/her current institution.
 
For more information on the Academic All-America® program, go to https://academicallamerica.com/.

CoSIDA Academic All-America® History – Missouri Baptist University
Name	Sport	Year	Academic All-America® Team
Danielle Bayer	Softball	2013	First Team
Lauren Krebs	Women's Soccer	2016	Second Team
Becca Starrett	Women's XC/Track & Field	2018	Second Team
Hayden Crowe	Baseball	2019	Second Team
Meagan Elder	Softball	2019	First Team
Carly Ferguson	Women's Golf (At-Large)	2019	Second Team
Becca Starrett	Women's XC/Track & Field	2019	First Team
Ally Gischer	Softball	2020	Second Team
Carly Ferguson	Women's Golf (At-Large)	2020	First Team / Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year (At-Large)
Luka Cajic	Men's Volleyball (At-Large)	2020	First Team
Kaitlin Mills	Women's Lacrosse (At-Large)	2020	Second Team
Jordan Crawford	Men's Cross Country/Track & Field	2020	Second Team
Richie Taylor	Men's Soccer	2020-21	First Team
Wessel Berenschot	Men's Soccer	2020-21	Second Team
Giovanna Tapigliani	Women's Volleyball	2020-21	First Team / Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year (WVB) / Overall Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year
Isidora Stojovic	Women's Volleyball	2020-21	First Team
Jordan Haeusser	Women's Lacrosse (At-Large)	2020-21	First Team
Kaitlin Mills	Women's Lacrosse (At-Large)	2020-21	First Team
Tomas Ventieri	Men's Golf (At-Large)	2020-21	Second Team
Jordan Crawford	Men's Cross Country/Track & Field	2020-21	First Team
Emily Bayer	Women's Cross Country/Track & Field	2020-21	Second Team
Richie Taylor	Men's Soccer	2021	First Team
Nicolo Tossici	Men's Soccer	2021	Second Team
KJ Satcher	Football	2021	First Team
Isidora Stojovic	Women's Volleyball	2021	First Team
Giovanna Tapigliani	Women's Volleyball	2021	First Team / Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year (WVB)
Manuela Vargas	Women's Volleyball	2021	Second Team