(Posted November 6, 2008)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - Juniata College senior outside hitter Amber Thomas (Ephrata, Pa./Conestoga Valley) and setter Beth Kozak (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area) have been named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Thomas was a College Division First team Academic All-District II selection, while Kozak was a Third team honoree.

This is Kozak's second consecutive year on a Third team Academic All-District squad. A senior education major with a minor in psychology, Kozak heads into the Landmark Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament with 532 assists (4.97/set) and 211 digs (1.97/set) this season. She is also tied for third on the team with 24 service aces. Kozak was a First team All-Landmark Conference selection in 2007, and earned AVCA Second team All-America honors last year.

Kozak is a five-time Dean's list student, who has been named to the Landmark Conference Academic Honor Roll (Fall 2007) and Commonwealth Academic Honor Roll (Fall 2006). This past spring, she was inducted into Pi Lambda Theta, the national honor society for educators. Kozak was also one of four Juniata fall season student-athletes named to the Landmark Conference All-Academic Team in 2007-08.

Thomas, the 2007 AVCA Division III Player of the Year, is majoring in communications. She has logged 305 kills (3.81/set) this season with a .309 attack percentage, and is averaging 2.11 digs over her 80 sets played. Thomas has recorded 35 total blocks this season.

Academically, Thomas is a three-time Dean's list student and was inducted into the National Honors Communication Society this past spring. She was a member of the Landmark Conference Academic Honor Roll (Fall 2007) and Commonwealth Academic Honor Roll (Fall 2006), and served as a teaching-assistant for the course "Introduction of Human Communication" during the Fall 2007 semester.

As a First team Academic All-District selection, Thomas's name goes forward for Academic All-America consideration, along with the First team representatives from seven other districts nationally.

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams are voted upon by the CoSIDA membership in the appropriate division and district, while the Academic All-America squads are selected by CoSIDA's Academic All-America committee and Board of Directors. College Division District II comprises all NCAA Division II and III, NAIA, and two-year colleges in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.