Senior awarded as Beach Volleyball Scholar-Athlete


USC senior Jo Kremer was announced as the 2018 Pac-12 Beach Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Monday. The award is given annually to an athlete who excels both in the classroom and in their respective sport. Kremer is the second-consecutive Trojan to win the award for beach volleyball, after Nicolette Martin received the honor last season.

Senior Jo Kremer sets up her teammate for a shot. Sunny Dong | Daily Trojan

Kremer, who is originally from Pacific Palisades, Calif., is currently finishing her degree as a communication major and holds a 3.72 GPA. After transferring from Notre Dame’s indoor volleyball team in 2014, Kremer has been one of the key factors to the Trojans’ recent dominance in collegiate beach volleyball. Last week on Senior Day, heach coach Anna Collier spoke about Kremer’s contributions during her time as a Trojan.

“Jo helped carry us to three national championships,” Collier said. “She was part of the foundation of what we’ve had for the past few years.”

Before winning the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award this season, Kremer was named on the conference’s all-academic second team in 2016 and 2017. On the sand this season, Kremer has a 23-8 record individually and boasts a 19-7 record when paired up with fellow senior Jenna Belton, good for third-most on the team. Kremer will look to help carry USC once again on their quest to repeat as both Pac-12 and NCAA champions.

According to the Pac-12 Conference, the Scholar-Athlete of the Year must be a senior in terms of athletics and be on track to receive a degree. They also must have maintained a GPA of 3.0 or higher, partaken in at least half of the contests in their respective sports and spent at least one year living at their school.

Every Pac-12 school is allowed to nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are then chosen by a committee of conference staff at the end of each sport’s regular season. The accomplishments of the athletes in their sports are also taken into consideration when choosing a winner.