BATON ROUGE — The LSU volleyball team received National Letters of Intent from Lauren DeGirolamo and Elena Martinez for the late signing period, it was announced by Tiger head coach Fran Flory.
DeGirolamo, a 6-1 middle blocker from Belleville, Illinois, was the 200-4-2005 Belleville News-Democrat Class 2A Volleyball and Girl’s Basketball Player of the Year. The Belleville West High School senior led her volleyball team to a 38-5 record and third place finish in the Illinois state tournament last fall, the first top three state finish for the Maroons in 10 years. In addition, she guided the girl’s basketball team to the 2004 Class 2A state championship.
As a member of the volleyball team, DeGirolamo recorded over 200 kills and almost 200 blocks her senior season. On the basketball court, she led her team with 21.2 points and 11.2 rebounds, scoring over 1,000 career points in just two seasons at the high school after moving from Ocean Springs, Miss., before her junior year.
DeGirolamo also plays for the Southwest Illinois Volleyball Club 18-1 team. She has recorded 96 kills with a .390 hitting percentage and 102 blocks, while posting 16 service aces in club competition.
“Lauren is a tremendous athlete,” said Flory. “She will play a significant role walking in as a freshman. She has had overall success as an athlete in any sport she has played, including both volleyball and basketball.”
A senior libero for Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, Martinez led Newman to a 33-5 record and their third state championship in four years last fall. With 449 kills and 521 digs, the 5-9 team captain was named the Most Valuable Player of District 8 and the Louisiana High School Athletic Association state tournament.
In addition, the four-year letterwinner was the Louisiana Volleyball Coaches Association small school Player of the Year and will represent the East Team in the Louisiana High School Coaches Association All-Star game this summer.
“Elena was a very highly sought after recruit,” said Flory. “We are just thrilled that she chose to come to LSU. She bleeds purple and goal and will now fulfill her dream of playing for the Tigers. She will make an immediate impact on our team defensively in the fall with her ball control abilities.”
As a member of the Newman softball team for three years, she earned all-district honors in 2002 and 2003 and all-metro honors in 2003. She led her Babe Ruth softball team to the national championship in 2001 and 2002 and was named the state, regional and national Most Valuable Player in 2002.
Martinez has also been a member of the Cajunland Volleyball Junior Girl’s Club for five years. The daughter of Matt and Ellen Martinez, her older brother J.P. played baseball at LSU and UNO and was the 271st pick in the 2004 Major League draft.