CHARLOTTE --- Gardner-Webb senior volleyball player Heather Feldman (Eden, N.Y.) has been honored with the Big South Conference's prestigious George A. Christenberry Award for Academic Excellence, announced league officials Thursday.

The award is given to the male and female student-athlete who attain the highest GPA during their college careers. It is the third consecutive year with a record total, and the fifth straight year at least four student-athletes have been honored.

Feldman is a two-time Capital One/CoSIDA All-District honoree and appeared on the Volleyball All-Academic Team and Big South Conference Presidential Honor Roll three consecutive years. She became just the 10th player in Big South history with 4,000 career assists (4,545) and 1,000 career digs (1,112) during her senior season, and concluded her career 11th all-time in League annals in assists.

A native of Eden, N.Y., Feldman played in 473 sets and 127 matches over her four years, and ranks second at Gardner-Webb's in assists, sixth in digs and first in hitting percentage. A member of the 2011 Big South All-Freshman Team, Feldman also earned NCCSIA University Division All-State honors her first season.

Feldman tallied a career-high 63 assists against USC Upstate on Sept. 27, 2011, and posted a personal-high 24 digs against Niagara on Sept. 6, 2014. Feldman finished her career with 54 double-doubles and 13 50-assist matches.

Big South member institutions nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the annual Christenberry Award. The honor is named for George A. Christenberry, the former President of Augusta College (now Georgia Regents University-Augusta) and one of the founders of the Big South Conference. A member of the Big South Hall of Fame, Christenberry served as the League's first President from 1983-86.