BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Lauren DeGirolamo was one of six student-athletes named to the 2007 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District VI Women’s Volleyball First Team, it was announced on Thursday.
Athletes named to the first, second and third teams were selected by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) from District VI, which comprises all NCAA Division I institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. DeGirolamo and members of the first team will now advance to the national ballot and have a chance to earn a position on the Academic All-America team to be announced Nov. 28.
A redshirt sophomore, DeGirolamo leads LSU with a 3.91 overall grade point average in math with a secondary education concentration. A two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, she would like to become a high school math teacher following graduation.
The Most Valuable Player of the Mizuno Tiger Classic and the Mizuno Invitational II, DeGirolamo was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 8. The middle blocker is fifth in the league and 42nd nationally with 1.36 blocks per game. Offensively, DeGirolamo leads the team, ranks 132nd in the country with a .318 hitting percentage. She also ranks second on the team with 3.35 kills per game. Currently ranked third in career blocks per game in LSU history, DeGirolamo has led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 15 of 26 matches this season and led the Tigers in kills in nine of 26 matches.
Against New Orleans on Aug. 24, she tied for the third highest hitting percentage in a match with 15-19 attempts in school history. Recording 12 kills on 16 attempts with no errors, she posted a career-high .750 clip, which was just behind the school record of .800 set in 1988. Against Rice on Sept. 1, DeGirolamo tied for the fourth most total blocks in a four-game match with 12 and the sixth most block assists with nine.
She earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor after posting 17 kills and six blocks with a .467 hitting percentage against Alabama. She topped that performance against Mississippi State where she tied for the match high with 18 kills while hitting at a match best .457 clip. She also led the match with nine blocks.
As a redshirt freshman last season, DeGirolamo was named the Louisiana Freshman of the Year as a member of the All-Louisiana second team and also earned SEC All-Freshman team honors. On four occasions she was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, a league high, and was the Collegiate Volleyball National Player of the Week on Sept. 19, 2006.
DeGirolamo is the only player from the SEC on the first team, while a total of three players from the SEC were selected. Arkansas placed a member on the second team and Ole Miss had a member on the third team. Texas led the way with three athletes on the team, including two on the first team, while Oklahoma also had three players selected, but none made the first team.
2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI Team
FIRST TEAM
Alicia Ostmeyer
Texas Tech
Sr.
4.00
Speech Language Hearing
Jessie Boulavsky
Rice
So.
4.09
Pre-med; Psychology
Heather Kisner
Texas
So.
4.00
Business
Jordan Bostic
New Mexico State
Sr.
4.00
Journalism
LSU
So.
3.91
Math-Secondary Education
Michelle Moriarty
Texas
Sr.
3.70
Sport management
SECOND TEAM
Molli Abel
Lamar
Sr.
3.63
Nursing
Emily Jones
Texas State
Jr.
3.91
Mathematics
Lauren Paolini
Texas
Jr.
3.26
Biology
Hannah Sharp
Oklahoma
Sr.
3.64
Finance
Lacy Barnes
Oklahoma
Jr.
3.82
Journalism
Jennifer Moore
Texas A&M
Sr.
3.92
Communication
Jessica Dorrell
Arkansas
Sr.
3.65
Finance
THIRD TEAM
Nicole Mahan
Ole Miss
Jr.
3.90
Art History
Anna Breyfogle
Baylor
So.
3.36
Psychology
Ashley Petrinec
Southern Miss
Jr.
4.0
Mathematics and Computer Science
Adrianne Meengs
Lamar
So.
4.00
General Business
Calli Corley
TCU
Gr.
3.67
International Marketing
Ashley Bernards
Tulane
Jr.
3.95
Finance
Bridget Laplante
Oklahoma
So.
3.54
Industrial Engineering