ST. LOUIS –Junior Megan Sowa (Gurnee, Ill.) of the Drake University softball team was named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday, May 10. The weekly MVC academic award is the first of Sowa's career and comes one day after she was named MVC Softball Player of the Week. The academic honor now gives the Bulldogs a total of 24 Scholar-Athletes of the Week this season.
 
Sowa blistered the softball in Drake's final three regular season wins over Bradley this past weekend. At the plate, she batted .600 (6-of-10) with one home run, three doubles, five runs batted in and seven runs scored along with tallying a .667 on-base percentage and a 1.200 slugging percentage.
 
On the season, Sowa is batting .302 with six home runs and a team-leading 14 doubles and 39 RBI. Sowa was previously named the MVC Player of the Week on March 28. Academically, Sowa has a 3.39 GPA as a double major in English and secondary education.
 
This week's awards continue Drake's extensive collection of MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards. A Drake student-athlete has won the award 24 times in the 38 weeks the honor has been awarded in 2015-16 including four weeks in which the Bulldogs swept the men's and women's honors.
 
To qualify for Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week laurels, student-athletes must carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20, completed at least one academic year at a Valley institution and must be at least a sophomore in academic standing.
 
Redshirt freshmen and first-year junior college transfers are not eligible. In addition to the academic qualifications, student-athletes will be evaluated on their athletic performance for a one-week period.
 
Drake will play its first game at the MVC Tournament, held in Carbondale, Ill., Friday, May 13 at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of that Friday morning's quarterfinal game between Evansville or Illinois State versus UNI. Every game of the MVC Tournament will be broadcast online via The Valley On ESPN3.
 
2015-16 Drake Scholar-Athlete of the Week Winners
Megan Sowa – Softball – May 10
Emma Huston – Women's Track & Field – May 3
Robert McCann – Men's Track & Field – May 3
Emma Huston – Women's Track and Field – April 26
Reed Fischer – Men's Track & Field – April 19
Emma Huston – Women's Track & Field – April 5
Emma Huston – Women's Track & Field – Feb. 16
Reed Timmer – Men's Basketball – Feb. 2
Emma Huston – Women's Track & Field – Jan. 26
Reed Timmer – Men's Basketball – Jan. 12
Maddy Dean – Women's Basketball – Jan. 12
Graham Woodward – Men's Basketball – Jan. 5
Kale Abrahamson – Men's Basketball – Dec. 29
Reed Timmer – Men's Basketball – Dec. 22
Reed Timmer – Men's Basketball – Dec. 15
Reed Timmer – Men's Basketball – Dec. 8
Rai Ahmed-Green – Women's Track & Field – Dec. 8
Kale Abrahamson – Men's Basketball – Dec. 1
James Grunert – Men's Soccer – Nov. 24
Paul Ciszewski – Men's Soccer – Nov. 16
Steven Enna – Men's Soccer – Oct. 19
Emma Huston – Women's Cross Country – Oct. 19
Reed Fischer – Men's Cross Country – Oct. 6
Ben LeMay – Men's Soccer – Sept. 22