Shaw's Kienka named CIAA female scholar-athlete of the year

Colleges

Shaw's Kienka named CIAA female scholar-athlete of the year

May 24, 2012

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Newport News, Va. — Shaw University women's tennis player Lolia Kienka was today named the CIAA's Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year at the conference's annual spring meeting.

In addition, she and women's basketball player Allyssa Lane were named to the Commissioner's All-Academic Team. The Commissioner's team honors the top 20 student-athletes in the conference based on both academic and athletic performance.

This marks the third straight year that Kienka (Lagos, Nigeria) earned a place on the first team of the conference's most prestigious All-Star team. A senior majoring in both business and international relations, Kienka maintains a 3.917 GPA. She earned the Outstanding Student in Business - Concentration Management Award at Shaw, the top academic award within her major.

On the court, Kienka earned the CIAA Women's Tennis Most Valuable Player as well as a spot on the Women's Tennis All-Conference Team - her fourth appearance on that team. She was the MVP of the CIAA Tournament as the Lady Bears won their third conference title in four years. She finished the CIAA season undefeated with a 14-0 mark, and was 18-2 overall at the number one singles slot.

Lane (Winter Park, FL), a second team selection for the All-Academic team, was a key member of the 2012 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship team. The senior recreation major maintained a 3.64 GPA throughout her academic career at Shaw and graduated May 12.

On the court, she led the CIAA with 109 assists and was sixth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio. She also led the conference in both games played and games started. In addition to playing on this year's national championship team, she also was part of the team that won last year's CIAA Championship and advanced to the Final Four.

The Commissioner's Team is comprised of student-athletes from all 12 member institutions in any conference-sponsored sport. The team is selected by the CIAA Sports Information Directors Association.