INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – On Monday evening, the NCAA Announced its recipients of the Division II 50th Anniversary Scholarship.
46 student-athletes, two from each Division II conference were selected. Following her tremendous first year with South Dakota Mines on and off the floor, Alessandra Meoni was selected as the lone female recipient out of the RMAC.
Division II schools submitted 196 nominations for the commemorative scholarship. Conference offices reviewed their member schools' nominations and selected up to four finalists for review by the Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee. The subcommittee reviewed all finalist submissions and determined the recipients, awarding one male student-athlete and one female student-athlete from each of the 23 Division II conferences.
"Congratulations to these deserving student-athletes who exhibit the core values of Division II," said Terri Steeb Gronau, vice president of Division II. "It was important while celebrating the history of Division II that we also recognize and celebrate our student-athlete leaders in a meaningful way."
Recipients have exemplified the division's Life in the Balance philosophy through high-level athletics competition, academic achievement, campus involvement and community engagement.
The lengthy list of accolades continues to grow for Meoni as she adds this to American Volleyball Coaches Division II All-America, AVCA South Central Region and RMAC All-Conference Second Team in addition to College Sports Communicators Academic All-District for her work in the classroom in her first year as a Hardrocker, all helping to lead her to earn this scholarship.
"Ale continues to be a dominant force not only on the court but in the classroom as well," said South Dakota Mines Head Volleyball Coach Lauren Prochazka. "Ale is so deserving of this award and I'm very proud of her for standing out as the RMAC female recipient." Prochazka finished, Ale is a fantastic representation of women in STEM and is a true scholar athlete."
Meoni will be heading to her senior year is a right side/opposite and originally hails from Padova, Italy, before moving to Friendswood High School in Texas and coming to the Hardrockers via Western Nebraska Community College and helped lead the Hardrockers to the best season in its DII history, setting several records and program milestones along the way, including 18 wins (most in DII history), 10 conference wins (most in DII history), hosting an RMAC playoff match (first time in school history), and advancing to the RMAC Semifinals (first time in program history), among others.
You can find the latest on South Dakota Mines volleyball all year long on X and Instagram (@hardrockervb), while also following on Facebook at Hardrocker Volleyball. The latest on South Dakota Mines athletics can be found by following us on X at @GoHardrockers, hardrockerathletics on Instagram and Hardrocker Athletics on Facebook.
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 13 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
