UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Four Penn State men's volleyball student-athletes were recognized for their outstanding academic achievement by being named to the 2019 EIVA All-Academic Team, as announced by the conference office Tuesday.
Will Bantle, Frank Melvin, Calvin Mende and Nathan Smith all qualified for the prestigious honor by earning a cumulative grade-point average over 3.30. Mende has been recognized as an All-Academic honoree for the third-consecutive year. It is the first All-Academic award for Bantle, Melvin and Smith.
Penn State's four academic award recipients are the tied for the most in a single season in program history (2008).
"I think the All-Academic guys are everything you want in a Penn State student-athlete," said head coach Mark Pavlik. "We have a wide range of majors, but the one constant among these four is they approach everything in their life the same way. Whether it's how hard they work on the court, how hard they work in the classroom, or how much effort they put in to begin good teammates, it's no surprise that these four have been honored by the EIVA."
A redshirt freshman, Bantle, has earned a 3.65 GPA as an advertising major. In addition to his academic achievement, Bantle was named an All-EIVA Second Team performer in his first season as the primary libero.
Melvin, a redshirt junior, currently sports a 3.42 GPA in marketing and will graduate with his degree in May. Melvin has just been accepted into a Masters program at the University of East London where he will study finance and risk.
Smith, a junior, currently holds an outstanding 3.97 GPA in biology with plans to enter medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon. Smith is also a member of Penn State's prestigious Schreyer Honors College.
Earning his third all-academic conference team award, Mende's cumulative GPA is 3.87 in security and risk analysis. Also a Schreyer Honors College scholar, the redshirt junior plans to pursue a career in intelligence analysis and counter-terrorism after his time at Penn State.
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