OMAHA, Neb. -- Allie Oelke and Alicia Runge from the Creighton University Volleyball team have been named to the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team, as voted on by league sports information directors.

Tweleve student-athletes were named to the first team, with an additional six players earning honorable-mention status.

This year's first team includes 10 players that have received previous MVC volleyball scholar-athlete recognition, including eight repeat first team honorees and two unanimous selections, Southern Illinois' Jennifer Berwanger (3.89 GPA, Therapeutic Recreation & Physical Therapy) and Beth Discher (4.00 GPA, Accounting).

The first team also includes Oelke and Runge of Creighton, Angela Bys and Emily Heffernen of Drake, Tabitha Visk of Illinois State, Morgan Dall and Shelbi Fouty of Indiana State, Cara Hackmann of Missouri State, Alicia Johnson of Southern Illinois and Mary Elizabeth Hooper of Wichita State.

Nine Valley first team scholar-athletes - Berwanger, Bys, Discher, Hackmann, Heffernen, Johnson, Oelke, Runge and Visk - were also members of their respective ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams.

Fifty student-athletes were nominated for the Valley's scholar-athlete team.  The criterion for the honor parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting.  Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA (on a 4.00 scale).  Also, students must have participated in at least 75 percent of the regular-season matches.  Student-athletes must have reached sophomore status in both athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.

Oelke owns a 3.794 GPA in Elementary Education and was named for the second straight season. Oelke ranks third on the Creighton team in kills and digs per set and second in aces per set.

Runge owns a 3.809 GPA in Organizational Communication. She moves up to the first team after honorable-mention accolades last season. Runge ranks second in the MVC in kills per set and in the top-100 nationally in kills per set and points per set.

Creighton (18-10) returns to the court on Thursday when it takes on Drake (23-10) in quarterfinal round action of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.