Bagby, Hill, Syverson Honored at Senior Honors Luncheon Thursday

Hill Named Team MVP, Bagby Earns Academic Honor, Syverson Given Leadership Award

Abby Syverson took home the SAAC Excellence in Leadership Award Thursday.

April 29, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC - George Washington seniors Madelyn Bagby, Abby Syverson and junior Leah Hill were honored at GW's Senior Honors Luncheon Thursday on the GW campus.

Hill was named the MVP for Volleyball while Bagby was named the SAAC Senior Female Athlete Academic Award winner. Syverson was awarded the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) Excellence in Leadership Award.

A junior from Ontario, NY, Hill's consistency and contributions both offensively and defensively were a large part of the team's success this season. A starting outside hitter, Hill was second on the team with 319 kills and 355 digs while posting 12 double-doubles (kills/digs). She earned Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week honors in November.

Bagby, a double major in International Affairs and Economics with concentrations in International Economics and International Development Studies, maintains a 3.92 cumulative grade-point average. She has been named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll six semesters. She also has been on GW's Athletics Department Dean's List seven times, including a perfect 4.0 GPA in Fall 2007.

Syverson was a leader both for her team and her peers this year, serving as a team captain on the volleyball team and as president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC).

A native of Minneapolis, MN, Syverson has helped organize numerous events for SAAC this year, including Freshmen welcome dinner, Student-Athlete Semi-Formal, Adopt-a-Family, Monster.com seminar, and joining with other campus organizations to raise funds for Haiti earthquake victims.

This year, Syverson and SAAC started GrassrootColonials at GW, a division of The Grassroot Project. This DC-based organization is the only nonprofit led entirely by student-athletes and seeks to address the problem of the high incidence of HIV/AIDS in DC by educating middle school students in HIV/AIDS education and life skills through sports and games. About 25 GW student-athletes have been involved.

Syverson has been on the Athletics Department Dean's List and will graduate next month with a bachelor's degree in geography while minoring in Spanish and international affairs.

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