Sophomore Tucker Tornatta (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz Memorial [University of Indianapolis]) was named to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team for his academic and athletic success on Thursday morning.
 
Tornatta, who owns a 3.57 cumulative grade point average in business, appeared in 25 games for the Beacons this season.
 
The team recognizes all student-athletes who have a 3.50 cumulative grade point average while being at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing. Eligible nominees must compete in at least 75 percent of the regular-season games or start at least 50 percent of the team's regular-season games.
 
Tornatta joins Ben Krikke (3x), Derrik Smits, John Kiser, Thomas Kithier and Kaspar Sepp as Valpo players who have earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Team status.
 
2026 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE FIRST TEAM
 

Student-Athlete, School	Yr.	GPA	Major	Hometown / Previous Schools
Andrew Alia, Drake	R-Jr.	3.84	Business Law	Kenosha, Wis. / St. Joseph
Jack Daugherty, Illinois State	So.	3.79	Sports Communication	Brookfield, Wis. / Brookfield Central High
Xavier Hall, Indiana State	Sr.	3.65	Computer Science	Shawnee Mission, Kan. / Bishop Miege (Truman)
Will Hornseth, UNI	So.	3.98	Sociology	De Pere, Wis. / De Pere High
Johnny Kinziger, Illinois State	Jr.	3.61	Finance	De Pere, Wis. / De Pere High
Tyler Lundblade, Belmont	Gr.	4.00	MBA	Dallas / Greensboro Day School (TCU/SMU)
Ty Pence, Illinois State	Jr.	3.74	Undergrad: 4.0 Marketing Business Administration	St. Joseph, Ill. / St. Joseph-Ogden
Kyle Pock, UN	Jr.	3.97	Biochemistry	Bolivar, Mo. / Bolivar High
Brigham Rogers, Belmont	Jr.	3.63	Finance	Woodstock, Ga. / Blessed Trinity High
Drew Scharnowski, Belmont	R-So.	3.82	Exercise Science	Burlington, Ill. / Burlington Central High
Eli Shetlar, Drake	R-So.	3.71	Finance	Wichita, Kan. / Andover (Indiana State)
Brayden Shorter, Murray State	Jr.	3.50	Marketing	Springfield, Mo. / Kickapoo (Washburn)
Sam Silverstein, UIC	Gr.	4.00	Graduate Studies	Glencoe, Ill. / New Trier (Harvard/Cal Baptist)
Tristan Smith, UNI	Gr.	4.00	Undergrad: 4.0 Applied Mathematics Kinesiology & Sport Performance	Elizabeth, Col. / Elizabeth High (Concordia NE)
Tucker Tornatta, Valparaiso	So.	3.57	Undergrad: 3.82 Exercise Science Business	Evansville, Ind. / Reitz Memorial (Indianapolis)
Landon Wolf, Illinois State	R-Sr.	3.93	Risk Management and Insurance	Cedar Falls, Iowa / Cedar Falls High (UNI)
Kai Yu, Bradley	R-So.	3.81	Communication Studies	Zhuhai, Guangdong, China (Liberty)