Portagers earn Academic All-State honors
Posted by Dylan Savela, Manistee News Advocate

January 18, 2012

Sherri Slater anticipated a learning curve this past season after stepping in as head coach of Onekama’s varsity volleyball program.

After all, inheriting a team and instilling new schemes should probably take some time.

But Slater was quickly impressed with her squad’s ability to absorb all the nuances of the new strategy. And that’s why the first-year coach wasn’t surprised that the Portagers were recently recognized for that sort of knack for learning.

Onekama, as a team, was named Academic All-State by the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association. Seniors Lindsay Nesburg and Nicki Slater received individual Academic All-State honors.

“It goes hand in hand,” Sherri Slater said of athletic and academic success. “Their academic acknowledgment didn’t necessarily surprise me at all. They’re a real smart group of girls. So it was nice to see how that all panned out.”

Onekama’s Nicki Slater (center) celebrates a point last season with Lindsay Nesburg (right) and Kelly Koon. (Dylan Savela/News Advocate file photo)

Volleyball 2011

Nicki Slater, Coach Slater, and Lindsay Nesburg
(photo by Jeri Prielipp)

With a cumulative grade point average of 3.69 on a 4.0 scale, the Portagers tied for third in their 10-team region and placed sixth among all Class D teams in the state. Nesburg and Nicki Slater qualified individually by their senior status and a minimum of a 3.7 GPA.

“I’m a firm believer that those two things go together,” Sherri Slater said. “We want them to excel in the gym and in the classroom.”

Slater was also pleased that her team was recognized as a whole, considering the effort each player put in all season long, both in the gym and the classroom. “Everybody works hard all year, and a few will get recognized for their athletics,” Slater explained, “but this is really nice for every one of them to be recognized for their academics — for their hard work in the classroom.”

Like any coach, Slater hopes the program can make strides on the court in the seasons to come — namely in its search of league and district titles — but she also expects the Portagers to build on their academic success.  “I anticipate that at this time next year I may have twice as many (individual academic honors),” she said. “They’re just that kind of group — a really hard working group of girls.”

 

 

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