GREENWOOD, Ind. – The College Sports Communicators (CSC) organization announced the 2025-26 Women's At-Large Academic All-American teams earlier this morning, where the Corban University Beach Volleyball program was represented by their top pair who shattered single season and career records that earned them top athletic honors in addition to today's most respected and prevalent academic award. Senior Emmi Marks and junior Emma Bischoff each earned individual First Team honors for their outstanding athletic and academic efforts during the 2026 spring season.
To read the CSC's release on the 2026 Women's At-Large Academic All-American teams along with complete lists of honorees from the NCAA and NAIA, click HERE.
The CSC Academic All-America program is nominated and voted on by members of the CSC, which are the Sports Information Directors/Director of Athletic Communications from every NAIA institution. Each school's nominees must have met the following criteria to be eligible for the awards: at least sophomore standing both athletically and academically and have maintained at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA through their most recently completed semester. For the NAIA, collegiate sports considered within the women's at-large category include beach volleyball, competitive cheer/dance, bowling, golf, lacrosse, and wrestling. Each sport consists of varying competition requirements for their respective seasons, which can be found in depth on the CSC website by clicking HERE.
Only three beach volleyball student-athletes among the NAIA were selected to the prestigious award, with Bischoff and Marks representing the only First Team selections from across the country. The only other NAIA beach volleyball student-athlete announced as an Academic All-American today by the CSC is Maya Blake from Ottawa University-Arizona on the Second Team list, who played for the Navy and Gold during her freshman and sophomore seasons from 2022 to 2023.
In total, twenty student-athletes among every at-large sport are selected from a pool of hundreds of student-athletes, with no requirements of sport minimums. For the 2025-26 award cycle, the NAIA was represented by seven lacrosse players, three beach volleyball athletes, three golfers, three wrestlers, two bowlers, and two competitive dancers. Corban's two award winners are the only women's selections from the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC).
Bischoff and Marks are both repeat award winners by the CSC organization, as they both earned Academic All-American honors last spring semester following the 2025 competitive season, with Bischoff claiming back-to-back First Team honors while Marks makes the jump from Second Team to First Team this year. The reigning CCC Pair of the Year made the 2026 season look easy, completing a 30-2 overall record run with more wins left on the table during the play-to-decision stage of the NAIA National Invitational where they powered the program to a fifth-consecutive national finish of at minimum the semifinal stage.
The Warriors' top duo was named the CCC Pair of the Week in both the opening and final weeks of the award season this past spring, upgrading to NAIA National Pair of the Week honors in the first week of the award's cycle. They finished conference play with a 14-1 record and set school records in total wins and win percentage for both individuals and pairs. From a career perspective, Marks jumped to the top of the win-column with 86 victories across four seasons played, while Bischoff will have an opportunity to break said record in her upcoming senior year.
"This award is something the Corban beach volleyball program is proud of, and Emma and Emmi should be just as proud of also," began Warriors' head coach Dan Stephens. "Excelling both in academics and in their sport takes hard work and a great deal of dedication, and it sets a great example to all collegiate athletes. We will continue to strive for academic excellence on this Warrior beach volleyball team, and celebrate the accomplishments of our student-athletes."
Academically, Bischoff and Marks are both near the top of their respective fields with cumulative GPAs of 3.87 and 3.85 in accounting and counseling psychology, respectively. The two Warriors have been named to CCC Academic All-Conference, NAIA Scholar-Athlete, and CSC Academic All-District honors in each season of eligibility, with Bischoff doubling up on both awards while Marks earned her third of each award during her final season of collegiate beach volleyball.
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