KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwestern volleyball senior Zavyr Metzger has been named the 2025 NAIA A.O. Duer Scholarship Award winner. She was chosen among nominees for the award from each of the NAIA’s conferences.
Metzger is the first Northwestern athlete to receive the NAIA’s top student-athlete honor since Karlie Schut in 2014.
A nursing major from Larchwood, Iowa, Metzger has been one of the top student-athletes to come through the Raider volleyball program. Last week, she became the fourth player in school history to record 500 career blocks, currently sitting at 508. Metzger is a two-time GPAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, was a 2024 Second Team All-American, a two-time First Team All-GPAC selection, and a 2024 AVCA First Team All-Region pick.
“What an honor for Zavyr, our program and our school to win such a prestigious award,” head coach Kyle Van Den Bosch said. “Zavyr is such a talented student athlete that has used her God given abilities on the volleyball court and in the classroom to the fullest. She comes to practice every day with the same mentality of giving her best effort in every drill and helping her teammates be the best they can be.”
In the classroom, Metzger was honored as a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America First Team selection for the second consecutive year in 2025, is a two-time CSC Academic All-District selection, and has compiled a 3.99 GPA.
Metzger will be honored at the 2026 NAIA National Convention on April 10-14 in Kansas City, Missouri.
ABOUT THE A.O. DUER AWARD
The A.O. Duer award was named in honor of the NAIA’s former executive secretary who served the association for 26 years. The award has been annually presented since 1967 to one male and one female junior student-athlete in any sport who has excelled in scholarship, character, and citizenship.
To be considered for the award, the student-athlete must have a registrar-certified cumulative GPA of at least 3.75 (on a 4.0 scale) and must have attained junior standing academically. The selection is based on a culmination of scholarship, character, citizenship, and playing ability.
