MALIBU, Calif. – Three members of the Pepperdine men’s volleyball team – Matt McKee, J.D. Schleppenbach and Jonathan Winder – earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic honors, the league office announced today.
To qualify for all-academic honors, student-athletes must have a 3.0 grade-point average or better, be at least a sophomore academically, have completed one full academic year at the institution prior to the 2008 season, and played in at least 50 percent of the team’s matches in 2008.
Winder (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS), a senior setter, was named to the MPSF All-Academic squad for the third time. Academically, he also earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 8 first team accolades last week and was previously named Pepperdine Athletics’ Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was also a four-time All-American and was the MPSF Tournament MVP.
Schleppenbach (Ventura, Calif./Ventura HS), a junior outside hitter, earned MPSF All-Academic honors for the second time. He had an outstanding postseason in 2008 and was named to the MPSF and NCAA all-tournament teams.
McKee (Aurora, Ill./Aurora West HS), a junior outside hitter, earned his first academic award. He was a key player off the bench for Pepperdine in 2008.
The Waves concluded their season earlier this month with a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
