Three Spartan Student-Athletes Earn Prestigious George A. Christenberry Award from the Big South Conference

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Part of a record-setting class awarded the Big South Conference's highest award for academic excellence, three USC Upstate student-athletes found themselves as recipients of the prestigious George A. Christenberry Award. Upstate volleyball's Julia Gladhill and Ali Jansen, and Upstate men's soccer's Cooper Jennings join former Spartans, women's basketball's Riley Popplewell (2020) and volleyball's Kelly Wiedemann (2022) as the Spartans' recipients of the award since joining the league ahead of the 2018-19 academic year.

The award is given to a graduating male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers. The 2024-25 academic year is the 13th consecutive year at least SIX student-athletes have been honored and matches the record number of recipients first achieved in 2019-20.

Below are capsules highlighting the 2024-25 seasons of the Spartans' three recipients.

Julia Gladhill | Libero | 5-9 | Sr. | New Market, Md.
Named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District … Named to the Big South All-Academic Team … Named USC Upstate's Dr. Jim Griffis Female Scholar Athlete of the Year Named Big South Libero of the Week on 9/3/24; 9/16/24; 9/23/24; and 11/11/24 … Became the 16th member (ninth in the Division I era [2007-pres.]) of USC Upstate's 1,000 Dig Club with a 26-dig performance versus High Point on 10/11/24 … Became the sixth player in program history (second in the Division I era [2007-pres.]) to reach 500 digs in a season with a 12-dig performance versus UNC Asheville on 11/16/24 … Appeared in all 28 matches and 114 sets … Led the team with 544 digs (4.77 per set) … Led the team with 37 service aces … Added 116 assists and two kills on the season … Dug up a career-high 37 balls—a Division I era (2007-pres.) program single-match record and tied the program's single-match record—versus Presbyterian on 11/22/24 … Landed a career-high six service aces versus Presbyterian on 11/22/24 … Strung together 16 consecutive matches with double-figure digs from 10/6/23 to 9/6/24 … Recorded double-digit digs in 26 matches, accumulating 20 or more digs in 13 matches, and 30 or more digs in two matches.

Ali Jansen | Right-Side Hitter | 6-1 | Fifth Year | Plainfield, Ill.
Named a recipient of USC Upstate's Joe Bowman Pinnacle Award … Appeared in 25 matches, playing in 91 sets … Ranked fourth on the team with 172 kills (1.89 per set) … Ranked fourth on the team with 29 total blocks (0.32 per set; five solo blocks and 24 block assists) … Added 54 digs and six assists on the season … Recorded a career-high 23 kills and 24.5 points versus Charleston Southern on 11/2/24 … Registered double-figure kills in seven matches.

Cooper Jennings | Goalkeeper | 6-1 | 180 | R-So. | Murrells Inlet, S.C.
Named CSC Academic All-District … Named to the Big South All-Academic Team … Named USC Upstate's Dr. Jim Griffis Male Scholar Athlete of the Year … Appeared in 15 games, making 14 starts … Accumulated 1347:02 minutes in goal on the season … Posted a 3-12-0 record on the year … Tallied 76 saves against 124 shots on goal, posting a .613 save percentage … Saved a season-best 11 shots versus UNC Asheville on 11/2/24 … His three saves versus ETSU on 8/25/24 preserved his lone shutout of the year, a 2-0 victory.

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Players Mentioned

Julia Gladhill

Ali Jansen

Cooper Jennings

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