TOWSON, Md. --- Tusculum College's Ashley Sarmiento has been named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® NCAA Division II Volleyball Second Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Sarmiento returns to the Academic All-America® Second Team for a second straight year.

The Dayton, Ohio junior setter becomes only the fourth Tusculum student-athlete to earn Academic All-America® distinction on multiple occasions. She joins three-time Academic All-America® cross country runner Simon Holzapfel (2009, 2010, 2011) and two-time Academic All-Americans® Denise Fliesser (Women's Soccer - 2004, 2005) and Jarrell NeSmith (Football - 2008, 2009).

Sarmiento has a 3.91 cumulative grade point average while majoring in mathematics and math education (K-12). Last month, she was named the 2012 South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Scholar Athlete of the Year, becoming the third Pioneer to earn this prestigious honor.

On the volleyball court, Sarmiento finished first in the league and 80th in the nation in assists per set, dishing out 9.36 helpers per set this season. The two-time All-Region and All-Conference selection finished 2012 with 1086 assists as she has recorded over 1,000 in each of her Tusculum campaigns. Sarmiento has recorded 3,453 career digs at Tusculum, which are second in school history.

Earlier this month, she was selected to the 2012 NCAA II Southeast Regional All-Tournament Team.

During her rookie campaign (2010), she was named the SAC Freshman of the Year and the AVCA Southeast Region Freshman of the Year, while also garnering All-Conference and All-Region accolades.

Sarmiento is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Tusculum Dean's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. In 2010-11, she was the recipient of the Tusculum Freshman of the Year Academic Award and is a Tusculum academic scholarship recipient.

Sarmiento is also very active in the community where she is serving her second term as president of the Pioneer Student Athlete Advisory Council. Her community service activities include: "Tusculum Mentor for Kids", Ride for Life, Scholar Athlete Student Leader and volunteers with the Greeneville Humane Society.

The Pioneers completed a magical run in the NCAA Tournament as Tusculum defeated Lincoln Memorial and top-seed Armstrong to advance to the Southeast Region title match. TC ended its season with a 24-8 overall record and played in the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

The Pioneers posted program's seventh consecutive winning season and the fifth 20-win campaign in the last seven years. Tusculum has recorded 20 more wins on 21 occasions in the storied program's history.

The Capital One Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structures, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2012-13 DII Academic All-America® teams program.

- TC -

2012 Capital One CoSIDA NCAA Division II Volleyball Academic All-America® Team
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Brooke Burmeister SW Minnesota State Sr. Lakefield, Minn. 3.77 Environmental Science
Jennifer Costello Missouri S&T Sr. St. Louis, Mo. 4.00 Chemical Engineering
Ellie Duffy Concordia-St. Paul Sr. Fridley, Minn. 3.96 Math, Biology
Meghan Franz California (Pa.) Sr. Cranberry Twp., Pa. 3.91 Secondary Education
Lauren Hagemeyer BYU-Hawaii Sr. Ridgway, Colo. 3.90 Exercise Spt Science
Grace Krauser Wingate Sr. Louisville, Ky. 4.00 Sociology

SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Jillian Carlberg Lewis Sr. Urbandale, Iowa 3.96 Computer Graphic Des.
Hannah Heeter Clarion Jr. Seneca, Pa. 3.99 Pre-Med, Biology
Samantha Lukralle USC Aiken Sr. Lindenhurst, N.Y. 3.97 Nursing
Heidi Luks Arkansas-Fort Smith Sr. Tallinn, Estonia 3.86 Biology
Ashley Sarmiento Tusculum Jr. Dayton, Ohio 3.91 Math, Math Ed. (K-12)
Anne Sutton Ferris State Sr. Grand Rapids, Mich. 3.91 Master Business Admin.

THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Brittany Biddle Wilmington (Del.) Jr. Claymont, Del. 4.00 Elementary Education
Lindsay Biggs Eckerd Jr. Topeka, Kan. 3.77 Biology
Meghan Cautero Anderson (S.C.) So. Naples, Fla. 4.00 Pre-Engineering
Kristen Preach Grand Canyon Gr. Phoenix, Ariz. 3.54 Communications
Brittany Snider Ashland Sr. Olmsted Falls, Ohio 3.52 Biology
Gao Xuan Lock Haven Sr. Dong Ying, China 3.63 Accounting

Academic All-American of the Year: Jennifer Costello, Missouri Science & Technology