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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State’s Manuela Ibarguen and Kate Owen were recognized Monday for their efforts on the court and in the classroom as Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athletes. Ibarguen made the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team while Owen was an honorable mention selection according to a vote of the league’s volleyball sports information directors.
Also a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection, Ibarguen carries a 3.68 cumulative grade point average as a sports medicine major. The senior outside hitter started all 25 matches she played in 2022 and led the Bears in kills (339) and kills per set (3.49) while ranking second on the club in dig average at 2.85, leading to 15 double-doubles on the year. A native of Carmen de Viboral, Colombia, Ibarguen’s six 20-kill matches this year made her one of seven players in school history with that many in a season. Four of those came in succession from Oct. 1-14, a first at MSU since 1997.
Owen was the Bears’ starting libero all season and has a 3.96 GPA as an exercise and movement science major. The Springfield native led the Bears with 469 digs and 3.88 per set average, reaching double figures 24 times and topping 20 on nine occasions with a pair of 30-dig efforts. The sophomore ranks sixth in the MVC in total digs and eighth in average, and second on the Bears with 31 service aces.
Thirty-eight student-athletes were nominated for the MVC’s scholar-athlete team. The criterion for the honor parallels the CSC (College Sports Communicators) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA (on a 4.00 scale). Also, students must have participated in at least 75-percent of the regular-season matches. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore status in both athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible).
