INDIANAPOLIS – William Jewell College volleyball student-athlete Kaci Behrens and Lewis University men’s lacrosse student-athlete Nolan Dalep have earned this year’s Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Postgraduate Scholarships, it was announced by the Conference office on Monday.
The GLVC Postgraduate Scholarship is awarded to one male and one female each year in the amount of $2,500 each to be used in the first year of post-graduate enrollment at the institution of their choice.
A two-time Academic All-GLVC selection, Behrens will continue her academic career next year at Des Moines University in its Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program. In her three-year career at Jewell, the defensive specialist tallied 158 digs, 28 assists, and 24 service aces in 116 sets. She also earned the William Jewell Volleyball Cardinal Glue Award, given to the person that best connects with their teammates and keeps the team together. Head coach Carolyn Beck praised her development as a leader and ability to guide the team through difficult situations.
In the classroom, Behrens held a 3.903 GPA heading into her final semester at Jewell, majoring in psychological sciences. The Ankeny, Iowa native made the Dean’s List three times and earned the GLVC Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholar Award in 2022. Her work outside of the classroom was equally impressive, serving as a member of Cardinal Hosts, Mortar Board Honor Society, Delta Zeta Sorority, WJC’s Institutional Review Board, and WJC’s Pre-Health Honor Society. After graduating from Des Moines, she hopes to further her career by becoming a Certified Hand Therapist.
Dalep has played four seasons on the men’s lacrosse team, accumulating 64 goals and 23 assists in 32 games. He was an All-GLVC Honorable Mention in 2022, winning GLVC Offensive Player of the Week and being named to the USILA Team of the Week in the first week of the season. The Victoria, British Columbia native has his name all over the program record books, as the second-highest, single-season leader in points per game (3.33) and career leader in points (87), points per game (2.81), goals (84), and goals per game (2.06). Lewis head men’s lacrosse coach Joe Perruzzi noted Dalep’s “intrinsic motivation” and “excellent work ethic.”
Majoring in criminal justice, Dalep has been named to the Academic All-GLVC team three times, carrying a 3.85 GPA into his final semester as an undergraduate. He will remain at Lewis to pursue his Master’s in criminal justice, while playing one more season of lacrosse thanks to an additional year of eligibility. The senior is a three-time Lewis Brother Delahanty Student Athlete Award honoree, along with making the Dean’s List on seven occasions. Dalep was a member of the Lewis men’s lacrosse leadership council this past year and helped to coach the True Illinois Box youth lacrosse squad from 2020 to 2022.
In order to qualify for consideration, the nominee must graduate by the end of the academic season – or by the end of the summer – of the application year, must have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.3 (on a 4.0 grading scale), have competed in a GLVC-sponsored sport for at least two years, and be a member of a team in the year the scholarship is awarded. Each league member may nominate one male and one female from their respective institution.