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Rising Stars on WSU’s Volleyball Court

Weber State volleyball had a big year on the court in 2019, sweeping Northern Arizona University to make their second appearance in the Big Sky Conference championship since 1988 and earning their second postseason appearance in school history. The Wildcats ended the 2019 season with a 26–9 overall record, entering the Big Sky Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed and finishing in the postseason with a 13–5 record.

The Wildcats recorded 20 or more wins this season for the first time since 2008, and the team’s 26 wins season is the second-highest total on record at Weber State. Junior setter Ashlyn Power ended the season with 1,459 assists, becoming Weber State’s all-time assist leader with 3,703 in her career and breaking a 35-year-old Weber State record. Freshman Dani Nay was named the 2019 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, finishing the regular season as the fifth-best hitter in the conference and with the most kills of any freshman this season. The team also picked up its first and second postseason wins in school history by taking down Boise State before a competitive five set victory over the University of Wyoming in the Womens’ NIVC tournament.

 

Two Big Hires in Athletics

Weber State Athletics welcomed new faces to important positions in the 2019–20 academic year

In December 2019, Tim Crompton was named as the Wildcats’ new director of intercollegiate athletics. He had been operating as the department’s interim director since May 2019, replacing previous director Jerry Bovee. Crompton is a familiar face to Wildcat athletics, having coached WSU women’s soccer for 15 years prior to his selection.

During his coaching career, Crompton was voted the Big Sky Coach of the Year three times (2004, 2005, 2018). His teams won regular-season titles three times (2004, 2008, 2018), and Big Sky Conference Tournament championships three times (2004, 2005, 2013). He is also a Weber State alumnus, earning both a bachelor’s and master’s degree.

In February, Meagan Thunell was named the associate athletics director and senior woman administrator for Wildcat Athletics. Thunell is a member of the Weber State Athletics Hall of Fame and played soccer at Weber State from 1998–2001, helping the Wildcats go to their first-ever Big Sky Conference Championship as a freshman in 1998.

Thunell spent 14 seasons as an assistant soccer coach for the Wildcats before serving as the interim head coach during the 2019 season. Thunell earned her bachelor’s degree with a double major at Weber State, followed by two master’s degrees.

Excellence in Sports and in Class

The Big Sky President’s Cup has returned to Weber State University’s trophy cabinets

Weber State Athletics received the 2018–19 Presidents’ Cup, given to a Big Sky Conference athletics program for success in both academics and athletics each year. The Wildcats finished second overall in athletic standing, totaling 10 top-five finishes in the 2018–19 season, and second in academic standings with a 3.34 department-wide GPA. More than 160 student-athletes earned Big Sky Academic All-Conferences honors during the year.

Weber State received its first two Presidents’ Cup awards in 2003 and 2004. In total, the Wildcats have won the cup a league record of five times in the last 17 years.

Impressive AP Score

The Wildcats also boasted high numbers in the latest multi-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Report (APR), released in May. The latest multi-year APR calculations included scores from academic years 2015 to 2019. All Weber State squads were above the NCAA minimum score of 930 and 11 of the 14 programs finished above 950.

The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation of all student-athletes on scholarship, and provides a measure of each team’s academic performance.