CHARLESTON – The Big South Conference announced Thursday that a league record-breaking 14 student-athletes had been awarded the Conference's prestigious George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence. Charleston Southern's Emily Struckmeyer of the women's volleyball program was one of the honorees for the award.

Struckmeyer (Lowell, Mich.) graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA from Charleston Southern, spending all four of her college years with the Buccaneers. In her career with the Bucs, Struckmeyer was a two-time team captain, she finished her career ranked sixth in program history in attacking percentage (.296) and 19th in total blocks (228), recording more than 400 kills across 100-plus matches. Struckmeyer also earned Big South Second-Team All-Conference and All-Academic Team honors in 2025. Off the court, she served as President of CSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, an FCA student leader, and student-athlete representative for the Student Government Association while double-majoring in Student Ministry and Pre Law-Legal Studies.

The Christenberry Award is given to a graduating male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their undergraduate collegiate careers.  It is the 14th consecutive year at least SIX student-athletes have been honored.  Below are this year's recipients in alphabetical order:

• Emily Struckmeyer, Charleston Southern (Volleyball)

• Jacob Jenson, Gardner-Webb (Men's Swimming)

• Sara Jann, Gardner-Webb (Women's Swimming)

• Dalton Olsovsky, High Point (Baseball)

• Isabel Manders Lamcken, Presbyterian (Women's Soccer)

• Ella Williams, Presbyterian (Women's Soccer)

• Mady Cheney, Radford (Women's Lacrosse)

• Mia Farley, Radford (Women's Track & Field/Cross Country)

• Macy Johnson, Radford (Women's Golf)

• Miller Hayden, UNC Asheville (Men's Soccer)

• Tess Penny, UNC Asheville (Women's Swimming)

• Aubrie Kierscht, USC Upstate (Women's Basketball)

• Avery Jolley, Winthrop (Volleyball)

• Rachel McCollum, Winthrop (Volleyball)

Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the annual Christenberry Award, or multiple student-athletes that tie for the highest GPA on their respective campuses.  The honor is named for George A. Christenberry, the former President of Augusta College (now Augusta University) and one of the founders of the Big South Conference. A member of the Big South Hall of Fame, Christenberry served as the league's first President from 1983-86. 

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