WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University athletic department had another big semester in the classroom this fall with more than a third of the Hilltoppers' nearly 500 student-athletes posting grade point averages of 3.50 or better.
    The athletic department surpassed the 3.00 plateau for the third consecutive semester with a combined GPA of 3.06 as 13 of the university's 18 varsity sports reached or exceeded the 3.00 team GPA mark – including all nine of the women's intercollegiate squads.
    "We are tremendously proud of the dedication and drive our student-athletes show on a daily basis and it is extremely gratifying to see them continue to achieve at such high levels," athletic director Lynn Ullom said. "I congratulate them on their success and also extend my sincere appreciation to our coaches, staff and faculty for their support and guidance."
    Individually, a record 76 WLU student-athletes achieved perfect 4.00 GPAs for the semester with 167 of the 477 Hilltoppers (35 percent) checking in at 3.50 or better. Thirteen teams had multiple student-athletes with 4.00 GPAs.
    The Hilltopper volleyball team led the way with an eye-popping 3.76 team GPA – believed to be the highest semester score in school history. All 15 members of Coach Kayla Mull's talented squad posted a GPA of 3.00 or higher with 11 surpassing the 3.50 GPA mark and six recording perfect 4.00 GPAs.
    Coach Barry Christmas's women's soccer team was a close second with an impressive 3.65 combined GPA. The Lady Hilltopper booters also set what is believed to be a school record with 15 players posting perfect 4.00 GPA semester scores while 25 women's soccer players had GPAs of 3.50 or higher.
    Coach Herb Minch's defending Mountain East Conference champion softball squad also impressed with 11 players posting 4.00 GPAs, 20 checking in at 3.50 or better and 32 of the 37 team members clearing the 3.00 hurdle.
    The success of West Liberty's student-athletes in the classroom also attracted national attention during the fall when two Hilltoppers were honored as NCAA Division II Academic All-Americans for the second consecutive year.
    Senior defender Caitlin deVries was named to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Academic All-America team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for the second straight season while graduate student and defensive back Brandon Morrison became the first Hilltopper football player to earn back-to-back NCAA Division II Academic All-America citations.
    A charter member of the NCAA Division II Mountain East Conference, West Liberty student-athletes compete across a broad spectrum of intercollegiate sports. These include men's football, cross country, basketball, wrestling, track, tennis, baseball, golf and soccer along with women's acrobatics & tumbling, softball, volleyball, cross country, basketball, track, tennis, golf and soccer.
    West Liberty University offers nearly 70 undergraduate majors and 30 programs and a growing number of graduate programs.