LITTLE ROCK – UALR volleyball's Edina Begic has been named the 2014-15 Sun Belt Conference Female Student-Athlete of the Year, the league announced on Monday afternoon.
Begic won numerous awards in her four-year career at UALR, both athletic and academic. She was named the Sun Belt Conference's Offensive Player of the Year for three consecutive seasons while earning First Team honors. Begic was named to the AVCA All-Region Team and earned the status as an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention in 2013 and 2014.
"She's one of the greatest players we've ever had in our program," head coach Van Compton said. "Along with her individual achievements, she's brought many team accolades just through her unselfish play. Her strong work ethic, character, talent, will and determination made her who she is today. We know Edina is the Female Athlete of the Year, but to me, that's a by-product of who she really is. She plays to make her teammates better. She's the total package."
In 2014, Begic was named the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week eight times, breaking her own NCAA and Sun Belt record of seven. Over her four-year career, Begic was named the Offensive Player of the Week on 18 different occasions. After her incredible performance at the Sun Belt Tournament in 2014, Begic was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Begic began her career at UALR by earning the Sun Belt Conference's Freshman of the Year award and All-Sun Belt Second Team honors in 2011.
Begic holds the UALR record for most career kills at 2,189, fourth-most in Sun Belt history and second-most in the rally-scoring era. Begic ended her career as the NCAA Division I active career kills leader.
Academically, Begic garnered two CoSIDA Academic All-District awards in addition to being named twice on the Sun Belt Conference's Academic Honor Roll and once on the SBC Commissioner's List. She is a member of Golden Key International Honor Society and the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
In the community, Begic has been a volunteer coach with the Little Rock Juniors Volleyball club, educating young girls on the sport she loves. Begic has also volunteered with the Miracle League of Arkansas, an organization that brings baseball to disabled children.
Begic is the first Trojan to earn the Female Student-Athlete of the Year award since women's basketball's Chastity Reed earned the moniker in 2011 and is only the second Sun Belt volleyball player to earn the title since the award's inception in 2002.
