GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University standouts Sabrina VanDeList and Sydney Leffler made program history as both were named as College Sports Communicators (formerly known as CoSIDA-College Sports Information Directors of America) NCAA Division II Academic All-Americans®, it was announced by the organization on Tuesday morning.
 
VanDeList was a first team selection for the second straight year and has now won three indoor and four overall Academic All- Americans® in her illustrious career.  Leffler was a second team selection for the first time and is just the fifth different Maverick indoor volleyball player to receive a prestigious CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-America® honor.
 
This year's selections marked the first time that the Mavericks have had multiple picks in the same season in program history and have allowed the Mavs to be one of just two programs nation-wide (Wayne State College) to have multiple selections.
 
VanDeList, an elementary education major with a perfect 4.00 GPA, hails from Severance, Colorado and was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Setter of the Year in 2023 while making program history as the Mavs' first-ever 4-time First Team All-RMAC selection. 
 
She also was named as the RMAC Summit Award Winner for the second straight season and was named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team for the third straight season.
 
On the court, VanDeList was also recognized as an American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American for the second straight year, finishing third in the NCAA Division II National Statistics for assists per set (11.64).
 
With her fifth season of eligibility remaining, VanDeList already ranks third in program history with 3,816 career assists and is fourth with 141 career service aces.
 
She was also a CSC First Team Academic All-America selection for women's at-large sports in 2022-23 for her beach volleyball prowess and earned third team honors for indoor volleyball in 2021.
 
Leffler, a junior outside hitter from Eaton, Colorado, was named as the RMAC's Player of the Year in 2023 and went on to earn first team all-America honors from the AVCA, becoming just the second Maverick to ever do so.  The exercise science major with a 3.63 GPA joined VanDeList on the First Team RMAC All-Academic squad this season and led the RMAC in kills with 441, the highest single-season total for any Maverick since 2006.  She also led the RMAC in total points (471).
 
She also earned Second Team All-America honors from the Division II Conference Commissioners' Association (D2CCA) and was named as the South Central Regional Player of the Year after a vote of the region's sports information directors.
 
CMU's CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (Indoor Volleyball)
1994    Amy Miller (1st Team)
2006    Stacey Vogel (3rd Team)
2019    Kasie Gilfert (3rd Team)
2021    Sabrina VanDeList (3rd Team)
2022    Sabrina VanDeList (1st Team)
2023    Sabrina VanDeList (1st Team)
2023    Sydney Leffler (2nd Team)