INDIANAPOLIS --- Former Tusculum College outside hitter Vivian Lacy has been awarded an NCAA Division II Degree-Completion Scholarship Award for the 2008-09 academic year announced College officials Wednesday.

The NCAA Division II Degree Completion Award Committee selected recipients for the 2008-09 awards from a pool of 182 applications. Lacy was one of 86 applicants to be honored from 63 different NCAA Division II institutions, as well as 10 alternates.

Lacy, who starred on the Tusculum volleyball team the last seasons, was named the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year for her sport as she led the Pioneers with 4.75 kills per game, which were ninth in the nation.

The Palm Bay, Fla. product was named the AVCA National Player of the Week and became the first volleyball player in school history to earn Division II All-America honors. She was also named the 2007-08 Tusculum College Female Athlete of the Year.

The two-time All-SAC First Team honoree helped guide the Pioneers to back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a 25-10 mark in 2007. Tusculum tallied a sterling 11-3 league record to finish second in the SAC, its best finish since joining the conference in 1998.

The NCAA Division II Degree-Completion Award program provides financial assistance to deserving student-athletes with completion of a first baccalaureate degree.

Candidates are student-athletes who have exhausted their athletics eligibility and have received athletics financial aid. Recipients are selected on the basis of several factors, with emphasis on academic performance. Other factors considered are financial circumstances, athletics achievement and involvement in campus and community activities.

Tusculum College, located in Greeneville, Tenn. is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA and is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of nine colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

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