MALIBU, Calif. – Eight Waves from four separate teams garnered College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors this week, including Kate Clermont, McKenna Thomas, Gracie Pedersen and Juju Quintero from beach volleyball, Kaleiya Romero from women's golf, Derek Hitchner from men's golf and Jacob Steele and Brendan Read from men's volleyball.
 
To earn Academic All-District recognition, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.50 grade point average and be a starter or important reserve on their team.  All nominees that meet the requirement earn all-district honors and advance to the national ballot where CSC members vote on Academic All-America teams within their division. 
 
Currently, CSC sponsors Academic All-America programs for men's soccer, women's soccer, football, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, baseball, softball and men's and women's track and field/cross country. Many other sports are eligible through the At-Large program.
 
Women's Golf:
Romero (San Jose, Calif.) amassed a 3.591 grade point average while studying psychology.  For her efforts in the classroom, she has earned WGCA All-American Scholar and WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll silver honors twice.  She is a three-time Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete and was named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar last season.  She's also a three-time All-WCC first team selection.
 
Men's Golf:
Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn.) has amassed a 3.925 grade point average while studying American studies as a graduate student this year.  He is a three-time GCAA All-American Scholar and WCC All-Academic honoree with two first team nods and one honorable mention award.  He tabbed WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll honors four times with three gold nods and one silver honor and he is a five-time Pepperdine scholar-athlete.  Hitchner was named WCC co-Player of the Year this season, as well as All-WCC first team.  He earned a spot on the U.S. Arnold Palmer Cup team and was named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list earlier this season.   He's also a Golfweek All-American and GCAA/PING All-West Region selection.
 
Beach Volleyball:
Clermont (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) earned a 3.741 grade point average while studying liberal arts for education.  This is her first season receiving academic all-district honors, though she previously received WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll silver honors in 2022.  She was also named AVCA Top Flight and All-WCC first team this season.
 
Thomas (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) is studying psychology and has earned a 3.791 grade point average.  She earned WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll gold honors last season and is a two-time Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete.  She also tabbed All-WCC first team honors this season, as well as AVCA Top Flight and WCC Co-Freshman of the Year acclaim last season.
 
Pedersen (Franklin, Tenn.) marked a 3.536 GPA while studying business administration.  Previously in her career, she had earned WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll silver honors in 2022 and gold honors in 2021.  She is a three-time Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete as well.
 
Quintero (Gainesville, Va.) has tabbed a 3.508 grade point average while majoring in pre-accounting.  She picked up WCC Commissioner's Honor Roll bronze honors and Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete acclaim last season.
 
Men's Volleyball:
Steele (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) has a team-best 3.75 grade point average while studying American studies.  He finished his undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics with a 3.69 GPA.  He is a four-time MPSF All-Academic honoree after garnering the honor again this season. 
 
Read (Newport Beach, Calif.) amassed a 3.70 average while studying integrated marketing communications and he also tabbed MPSF All-Academic honors this season.