April 29, 2010

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - NJIT volleyball player Sabrina Baby and North Dakota baseball player Jabby Bakhit have been selected as recipients of the Great West Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's inaugural sportsmanship award.

The SAAC Sportsmanship Award was established as an initiative to assist in promoting the ideals of sportsmanship throughout the Conference. The GWC Sportsmanship Award is presented to two student-athletes each academic year who display the best sporting behavior or generally conduct him/herself with a high degree of character and good sportsmanship.

Baby, a senior from Florianopolis, Brazil, became the first Academic All-America for NJIT in the Division I era in any sport. This past season, she led the nation with 6.27 digs per set (608 digs in 97 sets) and helped NJIT to the team statistical championship in digs with 19.81 per set. Baby ends her career holding numerous NJIT Division I school records - 2,301 career digs, 795 digs posted in a season (2008), 189 career services aces and 71 service aces in a season (2008). She was selected 2009 GWC Defensive Player of the Year, first-team All-GWC and was named to the Great West Conference All-Academic team as a business major with a concentration in finance and marketing.

Off the court, Baby has participated in numerous community service projects throughout her career., including Side-Out Foundation to help raise money for breast cancer awareness, planting trees and cleaning local parks with Jersey Cares, Toys for Tots, Soles 4 Souls and 24-hour Relay sponsored by SAAC.

"The ability to control your emotions on the court and to respect your opponent at any given moment was a tough lesson that I learned throughout my years competing for NJIT," said Baby. "I learned that good sportsmanship comes with maturity and in order to understand the beauty of the game, I needed to respect the strength of my opponents, the referees and all personnel involved in the match. I tried very hard to maintain a good relationship with the people involved in the match, which allowed me to feel comfortable in decisive points."

Bakrit, a senior from Omaha, Nebraska, has been described as someone who demonstrates sportsmanship in every sense of the word, leading by example and always giving 100 percent on the field while playing with the highest respect for the game. He is looked to for leadership by his teammates who admire his steady demeanor even in tough times.

The infielder organizes players for community service efforts as well. He has the ability to sense when it is time to help, and the team rallies around him. He also excels in the classroom and will be graduating this spring with a degree in marketing and management.

"Jabby is without a doubt the best total package kid/player I have ever had the opportunity and pleasure to coach," said UND baseball coach Jeff Dodson. "He is going to be a very successful person after UND, and his coaches can't wait to see where he ends up."

The Great West Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which represents diverse views and backgrounds of student-athletes, was established to serve as a medium of communication through which student-athletes, conference administrators, institutional representatives, NCAA representatives and coaches discuss and take action on issues relating to rules and regulations, student-athlete welfare and community service.