Pirates soak up spotlight

Volleyball

Senior Gwen Clarke and junior Casey Howett have been named to the Peach Belt Conference's preseason All-PBC Volleyball team, released Aug. 26 by league officials. Howett and Clarke are two of the team's eight members, voted on by the league's coaches.

Clarke returns to the lineup in 2010 after missing the 2009 season with an injury. Now a senior, Clarke was named PBC all-conference in 2007 and PBC all-tournament in 2008 after finishing 11th in the PBC in hitting percentage as a junior. The Superior, Colo., native has collected 613 kills in three seasons with the Pirates.

Howett, meanwhile, is the libero on the preseason all-conference team. The junior from Brooks, Ga., was named all-conference in 2009 after notching 526 digs - only the second AASU player to record more than 500 digs in one season. She had double-digit digs in 32 of the 37 matches she played in last season, and Howett is the quickest AASU volleyball player to reach 1,000 career digs, doing so in just two seasons.

Women's tennis

The three-time NCAA Division II national champion AASU women's tennis team has been honored academically by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Aug. 10 with the release of the organization's annual academic awards.

The Lady Pirates, as a team, earned the ITA All-Academic Team designation for 2010, the seventh straight year that AASU has received the accolade.

To qualify, the team had to carry a cumulative 3.20 GPA for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Individually, three Lady Pirates earned ITA scholar-athlete honors for the 2009-2010 year – senior Alida Kagukina, junior Alida Muller-Wehlau and sophomore Kathleen Henry.

Each of the Lady Pirates maintained a 3.50 cumulative GPA during the 2009-2010 academic year. All three players were repeat honorees from the previous year, while Kagukina and Muller-Wehlau have now earned the honors three straight years.

AASU was one of 37 NCAA Division II women's teams to earn the team All-Academic honor, while Kagukina, Muller-Wehlau and Henry were three of 172 Division II women's tennis players to earn individual scholar-athlete honors.

Baseball

Former AASU left-handed pitcher Jeremy Horst was promoted to AAA by the Cincinnati Reds organization Aug 12. Horst, who joined the International League's Louisville Bats, is the Pirates' first player to pitch in AAA since former major leaguer Adam Bernero's last stint in 2008.

Horst has been outstanding this season with the AA Carolina Mudcats, going 3-2 with a 2.09 ERA in 27 games. The Cheyenne, Wyo., native has given up just 35 hits in 43 innings, walking nine and striking out 46.

A two-year reliever for the Pirates in 2006-2007, Horst was selected by the Reds organization in the 21st round of the 2007 first-year player draft.

Horst hopes to join Bernero as former Pirates who have reached the major leagues. Bernero became AASU's first major leaguer in 2000 and pitched in 150 games over seven seasons with five different clubs.