Ed
Cassiere NEW ORLEANS — Danielle Jones changed sports this year at Xavier University of Louisiana, but her status as a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete did not change.
Jones — a senior from Baton Rouge, La., and a graduate of Episcopal High School — received that honor for the second consecutive academic year. This time she earned it for volleyball after playing basketball for the Gold Nuggets the previous three seasons.
NAIA athletes qualify for this award with minimums of junior academic status and a cumulative 3.5 grade-point average. Jones, a senior biology-pre medical major who will complete her XU academic requirements this month, has a 3.85 GPA.
And though her athletic career ended last month when Xavier finished third in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, her academic career is about to reach
high gear. Next for Jones is to select a destination after being accepted into medical schools at Johns Hopkins, Emory and Tulane universities for the fall of 2011.
Five GCAC volleyball players were among the 387 to be named a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete this season. The other four are Dillard's Roshawnda Buchanan, Danta Cobb, Zorana Piljevic and Cenquis Rockett.