Four Crimson Earn EIVA All-Academic Honors; Weissbourd Named All-East

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Four men's volleyball student-athletes were named to the 2009 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) All-Academic team, while senior Brady Weissbourd was tabbed to the 2009 EIVA All-East second team, in an announcement made by the conference office Wednesday afternoon.

Senior Jeff Nathan, junior Gil Weintraub, sophomore Shaun Mansour and Weissbourd were named All-Academic, giving the Crimson the most student-athletes on the 14-player team. NYU finished second with three selections, while Saint Francis had two and five other teams had one player each. Weissbourd was also one of 10 players named to the All-East second team and one of only two players from the Hay Division to earn all-conference honors.

A Human Evolutionary Biology concentrator, Weissbourd has posted a 3.73 GPA while leading the Crimson on the court. The co-captain ranks third in the EIVA and seventh in the country with an average of 5.18 kills per set, second in the EIVA and fourth in the nation with 0.54 service aces and fourth in the conference and 15th in the nation with 1.35 blocks. Weissbourd, a four-time Hay Division Player of the Week in 2009, leads Harvard with a .345 attack percentage, good for 25th nationally, while contributing 1.37 digs per set.

Nathan, the team's only other senior this year, carries a 3.74 GPA in Economics while competing at the libero position for head coach Brian Baise's squad. The Northbrook, Ill., native currently ranks second on the team with 1.50 digs per set and sports a 1.36 career mark in that category. Having played in 57 career matches, Nathan owns a career mark of 53 recorded kills and is 10 digs away from 200 for his career.

Weintraub, Harvard's other co-captain, owns a 3.74 GPA in Human Evolutionary Biology and has been the Crimson's main setter throughout the season. He stands fourth in the league and 15th in the nation with 12.20 assists per set. Weintraub set his career high with 67 assists against Newbury Feb. 17 and recently surpassed the 1,500-assist barrier. The junior has also contributed 1.31 digs, 0.69 blocks and 0.44 kills per set in 2009 and is six digs away from reaching 200 for his career.

Mansour, also a Human Evolutionary Biology concentrator, sports a 3.58 GPA while competing at the middle blocker position for Harvard. The sophomore has posted 0.71 blocks, 0.62 kills and 0.43 digs per set throughout the year and owns career marks of 0.64 blocks, 0.59 kills and 0.44 digs per set.

Harvard will make its first playoff appearance in four years Wednesday when the team meets George Mason at 7 p.m. in Fairfax, Va., in the first round of the EIVA playoffs.