FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Puschak Named to 2009 ESPN-The Magazine Academic All District Volleyball Team

PHILADELPHIA, PA (November 5, 2009)– University of the Sciences in Philadelphia women’s volleyball player Christine Puschak (Conestoga Valley High School/Leola, Pa.) was named today to the 2009 ESPN-The Magazine College Division Academic All-District 2 Volleyball Team as a First Team Selection.

Puschak become the second volleyball player in program history to earn First Team Academic All-District honors, following in the footsteps of Emily Roth' 08. Roth earned first team honors in 2004 and again in 2005, and was later named to the national Academic All-America team in 2005.

The District 2 College Division consists of all NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and District of Columbia. To be nominated for the Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a minimum 3.30 grade point average and a starter or significant reserve on her team. As a first team selection, Puschak will now be on the national ballot for the ESPN-The Magazine Academic All-America Volleyball Team which is scheduled to be announced on Monday, November 23, 2009.

Puschak, a pharmacy major pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia is in her third season of play for the Devils. Christine currently boasts a 3.94 grade point average.

As a middle blocker, Puschak currently leads the Devils in total kills(248) and hitting% (.229). She ranks second on the team in kills/set (2.92), total blocks (45) and blocks/set (0.53). Her kills/set total ranks her sixth amongst Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) volleyball players while her hitting% places her ninth amongst the conference leaders. Christine was named to the conference honor roll twice this season. Against Wilmington University this season, Puschak set a USP single match record with 23 kills in the Devils 3-2 win.

The former Conestoga Valley High School athlete was selected to the Philadelphia Area All-Academic Volleyball Team in 2008 and was a Division II Athletic Directors Association (D-II ADA) Academic Achievement Award recipient. As a freshman in 2007, Puschak earned Honorable Mention All-Conference and was named the CACC's Rookie of the Year. Career-wise Puschak is fourth on USP's all-time kills list with 807, fourth all-time in aces with 144 and eighth in total blocks with 165.

Puschak has been named to the Dean’s List in each of her four previous semesters at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and was inducted into the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society in the spring of 2008.

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