The 2006 Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Danielle Oswald of Drake, highlights this year's women's soccer scholar-athlete first team.  In addition, Melissa Nelson of Drake and Kate Hercules of Missouri State are three-time honorees as this year's team is flooded with 14 student-athletes from all seven Valley programs.

 Oswald, a senior from Dubuque, Iowa, owns a 3.33 grade point average in sociology at Drake while her teammate Nelson, a Duluth, Minnesota native, has a 3.85 GPA in pharmacy.  The other Bulldog on the scholar-athlete team is Mallory McGannon.  She earned honorable mention honors as a defender and has a 3.57 GPA in accounting.

 Missouri State boasts three scholar-athletes on the first team for the second-straight year, including three-time defensive star Kate Hercules.  Hercules, the 2005 MVC Defensive MVP, is a senior with a 3.71 GPA in actuarial mathematics.  She hails from Kansas City, Mo.  Joining her are teammates Chelsea Anderson and Kate Blair, both on the first team for the second-straight year. 

 Evansville's Kayla Lambert and Julie Winkler, Creighton's Emily Munn and Katie Brennan and Indiana State's Lauren Podolski round out the 2006 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team.  Additionally, Kanisha Campbell of Illinois State, Sam Russell of Creighton and Amy Seubert of UNI earned honorable mention honors.

 A total of 52 student-athletes were nominated for the Valley’s scholar-athlete team. The criteria 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 3.00 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 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.

2006 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team
Student-Athlete, School Pos. GPA Major Hometown
*Chelsea Anderson, Missouri State
*Kate Blair, Missouri State
Katie Brennan, Creighton 
**Kate Hercules, Missouri State 
Kayla Lambert, Evansville
Emily Munn, Creighton 
**Melissa Nelson, Drake
Danielle Oswald, Drake
Lauren Podolski, Indiana State
Julie Winkler, Evansville 
*repeat first-team selections

Honorable Mention
Student-Athlete, School Pos. GPA Major Hometown
Kanisha Campbell, Illinois State 
Mallory McGannon, Drake
Samantha Russell, Creighton 
Amy Seubert, UNI