ERIE, Pa. -- 12 members of the Mercyhurst College men's and women's water polo teams garnered honors on the 2011 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Scholar-Athlete Team.  A student-athlete must maintain a 3.25 cumulative grade-point average or better to be named a scholar-athlete.

Originating in 1951 to administer and promote men’s athletics, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference has evolved into one of the NCAA’s most heralded Division II intercollegiate conferences.

The most recent enhancement came during the 2008-09 academic year when the PSAC expanded for the first time in its rich history, adding full-time members Gannon University and Mercyhurst College, and associate member Long Island University-C.W. Post. The membership now consists of 16 full-time institutions and the one associate.

All of the league’s full-time members are located within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which makes the PSAC the largest one-state conference in the NCAA.

Today, nearly one-third of the PSAC’s estimated 6,200 participants are honored each year as "Scholar-Athletes" for maintaining a grade-point average of 3.25 or better - a total that has nearly doubled since PSAC Scholar-Athletes were first recognized in the mid-1990s.

Although all 16 current institutions are members of Division II, eight league schools also compete at the Division I level in select sports. PSAC schools enroll over 125,000 students and claim over 709,000 alumni.

Men's Water Polo
Danilo Svorcan (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia/15th Belgrade)
William Page (So., St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University)
Ian Tasman (So., Orlando, Fla./Winter Park)
Andrew Sekulski (Sr., Mohnton, Pa./Governor Mifflin)
Colin McDonald (Fr., Lindsay, Ontario, Canada/I.E. Weldon Secondary)
Joseph Burke (Fr., La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township)

Women's Water Polo
Jessica Clemente (Sr., Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson)
Christine Becks (Sr., Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak)
Hope Rozelle (Jr., San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo)
Allison Grimes (Fr., La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township)
Kylie McCormick (So., Boca Raton, Fla./Saint Andrews)
Nicole Nelson (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central)