Misericordia University men's volleyball standout Jared Piontkowski has been named to the College Sports Communicators Men's At-Large Academic All-America team.

A junior business administration major, Piontkowski is the program's first Academic All-American.  Student-athletes must have a minimum grade point average of 3.50 to be eligible for the team.

Piontkowski, a right side hitter, is also the first player in program history to earn AVCA All-America status and was named the Misericordia Wendy's Athlete of the Year.
 
He hit .319 and ranked fourth in the nation with 5.58 points per set and was fifth in the country with 4.63 kills per set.

He led the MAC in kills per set and was third in the league with .49 aces per set and ranked eighth in hitting percentage.

He had double-digit kills in 23 of 30 matches, including a season-high 32 in a win over nationally-ranked Juniata.  He set a new school single-season record with 440 kills and was one of just three players in the nation to have multiple 30-kill matches.

His 74 blocks are the second-highest single-season total in school history and his 46 aces are the third-most in school history. 

The Cougars finished 23-11 while setting a school record for wins in a season and advancing to the MAC championship game for the first time in school history.
 
In addition, Misericordia was ranked in the AVCA top 20 for the first time.