December 2, 2004
Release courtesy of Larry Happel, Central College sports information director

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Iowa Conference volleyball MVP Jamie Stark, a Central College senior from Center Point, has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team selected by CoSIDA .

Stark, a social science major with a 3.98 grade point average (4.0 scale), was a first-team selection. She was the only Iowan honored.

A 5-foot-10 middle hitter, Stark is the second Central volleyball player to ever receive the honor. All-American setter Angie Nielsen was chosen in 2001.

Central student-athletes have received academic all-America recognition 39 times since 1979. The most recent Central honoree was women’s track and field all-American Raegan Schultz in June.

Also an academic all-Iowa Conference repeat selection and a three-time winner of Central’s volleyball team Academic Award, Stark is among 11 Central varsity volleyball players with a 3.50 cumulative GPA or higher. The Dutch carry an overall team GPA of 3.73.

Stark, a graduate of Center Point-Urbana High School, was a first-team AVCA Division III all-Central Region pick and also received honorable mention all-America recognition. She was an all-tournament selection at the Wis.-River Falls and Washington-St. Louis invitationals.

A team co-captain, Stark led the Dutch to a 28-9 record, a ninth consecutive Iowa Conference title and the program’s ninth NCAA Division III playoff berth. She averaged 2.89 kills, 1.2 digs and 0.71 blocks per game while hitting .331. Stark set a school match record by hitting .846 against Wis.-River Falls Oct. 23 with 22 kills in 26 attempts and no errors. It was the fourth-highest single-match percentage in Division III history for players with 20 or more attempts. She was named the Iowa Conference player of the week following that performance.

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