UNA's Price Sisters Honored as Part of NCAA 40th Anniversary Celebration
Feb. 18, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.––Former University of North Alabama volleyball All-Americans Rachel Price Bell and Ronda Price Brinley have been selected among 49 student-athletes that the NCAA will honor throughout 2013 as part of the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of NCAA Division II.
Developed through a partnership with the Division II Conference Commissioners Association, the 40th Anniversary Tribute Team highlights one male and one female from each of the division’s 23 current conferences, plus two at-large nominees. The Gulf South Conference is the only league with three honorees, with the Price sisters sharing the league's female honoree award. Both earned All-American and Academic All-America honors at UNA and have gone to to successful careers in the medical field.
UNA is one of just three schools in the nation to have two honorees, with St. Edwards of the Haertland Conference at Pittsburgh at Johnstown of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference receiving both the male and female awards from their leagues.
“This group of former student-athletes is meant to reflect the core values of Division II athletics,” said Josh Looney, associate director of Division II. “Commissioners have helped identify a diverse group of championship individuals from Division II’s 40-year history. Not only did these former student-athletes act as champions in athletics and in the classroom, they’ve gone on to live championship lives as well.
“This group is a true representation of Division II’s commitment to providing its student-athletes a ‘Life in the Balance’ that extends beyond athletics.”
Division II gained its own unique intercollegiate athletics identity when Divisions I, II and III were formalized during a special NCAA Convention held in 1973. Prior to 1973, the NCAA was organized into two divisions––“University” and “College.”
The year-long 40th Anniversary celebration will feature a number of initiatives branded by Division II’s tradition, history and community influence. A special 40th Anniversary highlight video was unveiled to Division II membership during the 2013 NCAA Convention, officially kicking off the celebration.
Each member of the Division II 40th Anniversary Tribute Team will receive a commemorative 40th Anniversary gift and is slated to have his/her accomplishments profiled through Division II media channels.
Conferences were asked to submit a list of nominees representative of Division II’s ideals. The only requirement was that nominees exhausted their athletics eligibility within the past 40 years and attended a college or university active in Division II.
Rachel Price Bell was a four-year starter on University of North Alabama volleyball teams from 1996-99 that had a combined 156-22 record. The Lions won four straight Gulf South Conference championships, made four straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and won two NCAA regional championships. She played in a school record 593 games and 178 matches and had 1,539 kills. She and her sister Ronda are two of only eight UNA student-athletes all-time to have earned both All-American and Academic All-America honors. She was a second-team AVCA All-American pick in 1998 and 1999 and was a CoSIDA Academic All-America selection in 1998 (third-team) and 1999 (first-team). She was also a CoSIDA Academic All-District IV pick in 1997, 1998 and 1999, an Academic All-GSC honoree in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and received the Gulf South Conference Commissioner’s Trophy as the premier female student-athlete in the league in 1999 and 2000. She was also named NCAA Division II Conference Commissioner's Association National Female Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2000.
An All-Gulf South Conference and All-Gulf South Conference Tournament pick in 1998 and 1999, she also received two GSC Player of the Week honors. She was an All-South Central Region selection 1997, 1998 and 1999 and also received All-South Central Region Tournament honors in 1998 and 1999. She was named South Central Region MVP in 1999. An AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 10, 1999, she was UNA’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2000 and was awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 2000.
Following her graduation from UNA, Price earned a Phd. in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University and is currently employed as a clinical project manager in West Lafayette, Ind.
She was inducted into the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011 in her first year of eligibility.
Ronda Price Brinley was also a four-year starter on University of North Alabama volleyball teams from 1996-99 that had a combined 156-22 record and won four straight Gulf South Conference championships, made four straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and won two NCAA regional championships. Her 2,550 career kills ranked second in Division II history when she ended her career and she set 15 individual school records.
She is one of just eight UNA student-athletes all-time to have earned both All-American and Academic All-America honors. An AVCA All-American pick in 1997 (second-team), she earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in 1997 (second-team) and 1999 (third-team).
She was the recipient of the Gulf South Conference Commissioner’s Trophy as the premier female student-athlete in the league in 1998 and was the Alabama Sports Writers Association State Small College Athlete of the Year in 1997.
Price was an All-Gulf South Conference and All-Gulf South Conference Tournament pick in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 and was an Academic All-GSC honoree in 1997, 1998 and 1999. She was selected CoSIDA Academic All-District IV in 1997 and 1999 and received eight GSC Player of the Week honors during her career. The GSC East Division Freshman of the Year in 1996, Price was the GSC Tournament MVP in 1997 and GSC Co-Player of the Year in 1997.
She received first-team All-South Central Region and All-South Central Region Tournament honors in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. She was AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 5, 1997 and set an NCAA Division II record for career kill attempts (6,091) and attempts in a four-game match (81). She also set six school records and five GSC records. UNA’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1998 and 2000, she was awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship in 2000.
She was inducted into the UNA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011 in her first year of eligibility.
Following her graduation from UNA she graduated from the Indiana University School of Medicine and also did her residency at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She is employed as an anesthesiologist in Fort Wayne, Ind.
The NCAA Division II 40th Anniversary Tribute Team:
California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)
Violet Palmer (Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Basketball, 1984-88)
Chris Wondolowski (Chico State Men’s Soccer, 2001-04)
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC)
Michelle DePolo (Georgian Court University Women’s Basketball; Soccer; Softball, 1999-03)
Nicholas Harriott (Caldwell College Men’s Soccer, 2004-08)
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)
Barvenia Wooten-Cherry (Virginia Union University Women’s Basketball, 1980-83)
Timmy Newsome (Winston-Salem State University Football, 1976-80)
Conference Carolinas (CC)
Stephanie Ferri-Lewis (Pfeiffer University Women’s Cross Country; Soccer; Swimming, 1991-94)
Clint Bryant (Belmont Abbey College Men’s Basketball, 1973-77)
East Coast Conference (ECC)
Donna Orender (Queens College Women’s Basketball, 1975-78)
Brian Kilmeade (LIU Post Men’s Soccer, 1982-86)
Great American Conference (GAC)
Janet Cherobon-Bawcom (Harding University Women’s Cross Country; Track and Field, 2000-05)
Drew Beard (Southeastern Oklahoma State University Football, 2001-04)
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC)
Gail Goestenkors (Saginaw Valley State University Women’s Basketball, 1981-85)
Tom Izzo (Northern Michigan University Men’s Basketball, 1973-77)
Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC)
Sandra Magnus (Missouri S&T Women’s Soccer, 1983-86)
Larry Tucker (Lewis University Men’s Basketball, 1979-83)
Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC)
Mallory Holtman-Fletcher (Central Washington University Softball, 2005-08)
Grant Dykstra (Western Washington University Men’s Basketball, 2002-06)
Gulf South Conference (GSC)
Rachel Price-Bell and Ronda Price-Brinley (University of North Alabama Volleyball, 1996-00)
Radovan Chrz (University of West Florida Men’s Tennis, 2000-04)
Heartland Conference (HC)
Kelsey Baird (St. Edward’s University Women’s Soccer, 2005-09)
Collin Mayer (St. Edward’s University Men’s Golf, 2007-10)
Lone Star Conference (LSC)
Dr. Tammi Julch-Williams (Texas Women’s University Basketball, 1990-94)
Roberto Garza (Texas A&M University-Kingsville Football; Track & Field, 1997-2000)
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA)
Teri Clemens (Truman State University Volleyball, 1974-78)
Jim Crane (University of Central Missouri Baseball, 1973-76)
Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10)
Johannah Leedham (Franklin Pierce University Women's Basketball, 2006-10)
J. Terence Carleton (Bentley College Men’s Soccer, 1973-76)
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSIC)
Lauren Brown (Winona State University Women’s Track and Field; Volleyball, 2007-10)
Bob Bowlsby (Minnesota State University Moorhead Wrestling, 1972-75)
Pacific West Conference (PacWest)
Samantha Murphy (Grand Canyon University Women’s Basketball, 2007-11)
Tsung-Hsien “Jet” Chang (BYU-Hawaii Men’s Basketball, 2010-12)
Peach Belt Conference (PBC)
Dr. Amy Amundson-Smith (Georgia College and State University Women’s Basketball, 1989-92)
Stilian Shishkov (Lander University Men’s Soccer, 1993-95)
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)
Lori Pio-Jacques (East Stroudsburg University Women’s Basketball, 1993-96)
David Williams (Bloomsburg University Men’s Tennis, 1978-81)
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC)
Elva Martinez-Dryer (Western State Colorado University Women’s Cross Country; Track and Field, 1991-95)
Danny Woodhead (Chadron State College Football, 2004-07)
South Atlantic Conference (SAC)
Kate Griewisch (Lenoir-Rhyne University Women’s Cross Country; Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field, 2009-12)
Patrick Bartlett (Wingate University Men’s Basketball; Soccer; Tennis, 1996-00)
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC)
Selina B. Kohn (Albany State University Women’s Basketball, 1990-94)
Edwin Moses (Morehouse College, 1974-78)
Sunshine State Conference
Anna Hallbergson (Barry University Women’s Tennis, 1997-2000):
Ken Corigliano (Saint Leo University Men’s Cross Country, 2002-06)
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC)
Mindy Young-Gagliardi (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Women’s Basketball, 1988-92)
Sean Isgan (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Wrestling, 1977-82)
At-Large (NCAA)
Sheila Baxter (Virginia State University Women’s Basketball, 1973-77)
Shane Carwin (Western State Colorado University Football and Wrestling, 1995-99)