Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Release
PHILADELPHIA – Haverford College women's basketball senior co-captains Sierra Berkel and Samantha Wetzel have been named to the 2017-18 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women's Basketball team, the Philadelphia Area Sports Information Directors Association (Philly-SIDA) announced in a release on Wednesday. Berkel picks up the award for a second consecutive season while Wetzel adds the plaudit to earlier CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades and recognition as the Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's basketball.
In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, an athlete must be in at least his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better. The team is voted on by the sports information offices of the 30 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area that compose Philly-SIDA.
Berkel, an English major with a double minor in education and psychology from Flushing, N.Y., took home the Academic All-Area honor a season ago, becoming the first member of the squad in program history. This year, Berkel was named to the All-Conference first team for the second consecutive season. Berkel is the first two-time selection to the conference first team in program history. Berkel appeared in 24 games, starting 20 contests. She was fifth in the conference in points per game (15.2) and seventh in rebounds per game (8.2). Her field goal percentage of 49.6 percent ranked second in the Centennial Conference. The Flushing, N.Y. product is the program's all-time career record holder in field goal percentage (.507) and is second in field goals made (467) and rebounds (828). She is third in overall points (1,195) in Haverford program history.
Wetzel, an economics major and statistics minor from Sicklerville, N.J., picked up her second straight designation as the Centennial Conference Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, recognizing the junior or senior member of the All-Centennial Conference squad with the highest cumulative grade point average. In Februrary, Wetzel was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District team. The honor recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. Wetzel is the first member of the Haverford women's basketball team to be chosen for an Academic All-District team.
Wetzel was named to her third-straight All-Conference honor this season, taking home a second team nod after honorable mention in each of the last two seasons. She finished fifth in the conference in rebounds per game (9.2). Wetzel is the Centennial Conference's all-time leader in blocks with 274 to her name and paced the Conference yet again this season with 3.1 per contest. The forward finishes her career as Haverford's career leader in blocks (274), blocked shot average (2.6), defensive rebounds (620) and games played (107). She is eighth overall in total points with 1,008 and Joins Berkel as one of just eight players in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
In 2018, the pair helped anchor the Haverford squad to the second 20-win season in program history, an 18-4 mark in Conference Play, two wins over ranked opposition and a berth in the NCAA tournament.