Becky Novacek

Classroom

The definition of a student-athlete, Becky Novacek has excelled on the court and in the classroom. The Atlantic 10 First Team selection is a six time member of the Dean’s List and had a 4.00 GPA for the fall 2008 semester and winter 2009 semester. She earned the University of Dayton’s Presidential Scholarship, which is a four-year renewable scholarship. An accounting major, Novacek was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, an honors business fraternity as well as Beta Alpha Psi, an accounting fraternity. She has been named to the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. In addition, she is also a two-time member of Dayton’s All-Academic Team. Novacek also received the Mortar Board Premier Scholar-Athlete Award during her junior season. Novacek has helped the Flyers earn the AVCA’s Team Academic award for three consecutive seasons.

Character

Novacek has overcome a number of obstacles since enrolling at the University of Dayton. She wasn’t expected to be a dominant middle blocker due to her height, however, in that time she has been named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference. Additionally, she and her teammates have had to overcome the death of their teammate Kacie Hausfeld who perished in a plane crash in April of 2010.

Community

Novacek has given back to the Dayton community in a number of ways. She has helped raise money for breast cancer research in each of her first three seasons.  Novacek has also “adopted” an underprivileged child for the University of Dayton’s Christmas on Campus, a campus-wide initiative to bring the joy of Christmas to those less fortunate in the Dayton region. In addition to team initiatives, she has also taken on a number of individual volunteer projects. Last season, Novacek baked for Meals on Wheels and also volunteered to help those in need prepare their taxes. Prior to that she has donated to Locks of Love and has participated in National Women In Sport Day for the last three seasons. Novacek has also served as a mentor to fellow students. In her junior year she tutored for the accounting exam and also served as a test proctor for the exam. She also volunteered at the Beta Alpha Psi table during the nationally-recognized RISE (Redefining Investment Strategy Education) Symposium hosted by the University of Dayton.She currently has an accounting internship with the BWI Group working with fixed assets in the finance department.

Competition

Novacek had a dominant junior season. She was named First Team All-Atlantic 10 in 2009 after posting a .332 hitting percentage. She posted a season-high 17 kills on two occasions and also added a season-high eight blocks.  She helped the team advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in her career and in the program’s history. In her sophomore season, Novacek saw some playing time at the middle blocker position playing behind a veteran senior middle blocker Bethany Akerhielm and All-American Lindsay Fletemier. Despite this, she helped the team advance to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in her career. In her freshman year, Novacek helped the Flyers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.