The Portland State volleyball team doesn't need to be playing matches to still be setting records. Four Vikings earned Academic All-District honors Tuesday from the College Sports Communicators (CSC), the most honorees in a single year in program history.
Reese Biesemeyer,
Ava Blascziek,
Tyra Schaub and
Paige Stepaniuk all received the honor. It was the second such honor of Stepaniuk's career, while it's the first for Biesemeyer, Blascziek and Schaub.
The Vikings had three honorees each in 1997 and 2023, but never more than that. Portland State players have earned 11 Academic All-District honors since 2022, when the CSC went to a merit-based system rather than a voter-based.
The Academic All-District honor recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. To qualify academically, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or older and have at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA. Athletically, student-athletes must compete in 90 percent of their institution's matches or have started at least 66 percent of matches.
Stepaniuk earned her second honor with a 3.97 GPA in criminology and criminal justice. Athletically, Stepaniuk took a step up as a junior, averaging career bests for digs (4.10) and aces (0.22) per set this past season. She was named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week three different times during the season, including after The Joust Tournament, Sept. 11-13, where she was also named Tournament MVP.
Stepaniuk finished the year ranked fourth in the Big Sky in digs per set. She reached 1,000 career digs in the third set of the Vikings' road match at Idaho State on Nov. 1. She also tied her career high with 30 digs in a five-set win over Montana State on Oct. 16.
Biesemeyer earned her first Academic All-District honor behind a 3.67 GPA in public health studies: pre-clinical. On the court, Biesemeyer ranked 10th in the Big Sky with a .314 hitting percentage. She recorded one error or less in 13 of the Vikings' 16 Big Sky matches. That included the Vikings' match against regular-season champion Northern Arizona on Nov. 8, when Biesemeyer set a career high with 12 kills on .500 hitting.
Additionally, Biesemeyer joined Stepaniuk on the All-Tournament Team at The Joust Tournament, Sept. 11-13. Biesemeyer had six kills on .750 hitting to go with four blocks in the Vikings' 3-1 win over previously unbeaten New Mexico to open that tournament.
Blascziek carried a 4.0 GPA in psychology for her Academic All-District honor Tuesday. Blascziek ranked seventh in the Big Sky with 6.98 assists per set, while she ranked second on the team with 12 double-doubles throughout the year. She set a career high with 51 assists to go with 10 digs in the Vikings' reverse sweep of Idaho on Oct. 25. She reached 1,000-career assists in the previous match, reaching the milestone in the third set against Eastern Washington.
Schaub also carries a 4.0 GPA in Business Administration: Marketing in earning her Academic All-District honor. She had a breakout year athletically, averaging career bests for kills (2.74), digs (2.42) and aces (0.25) per set while hitting a career-best .194. She recorded nine double-doubles throughout the season, including a career performance on Senior Night against Northern Arizona on Nov. 8. Schaub led the Vikings with 19 kills on .209 hitting against the Lumberjacks to go with a career-high 20 digs. She had another strong match in the Vikings' five-set win over Montana State on Oct. 16, when she set then-career highs for kills (20), digs (18), aces (4) and points (24.5).
