BATON ROUGE — LSU sophomore Lauren DeGirolamo and junior Elena Martinez earned All-South Region honors, as announced by the America Volleyball Coaches Association on Wednesday.
The All-South Region team consists of 12 players, seven from the Southeastern Conference, with six honorable mention selections, two from the SEC. Members of the eight separate all-region teams are now qualified for All-America honors, which will be presented on Dec. 12.
The honor marks the first All-Region award of DeGirolamo’s career after earning first-team All-SEC honors earlier this year. She was named the Collegiate Volleyball National Player of the Year on Nov. 13 for the second time in her career, and was selected the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 8.
Leading the team and ranked second in the SEC in blocks per game, DeGirolamo is ranked in the top 20 in the nation this season. In addition, she ranks in the top 10 in hitting percentage in the league and is ranked 87th nationally, while ranking second on the team in kills per game. She finished the season ranked fourth in single-season block assists, fifth in single-season blocks and sixth in blocks per game in LSU history. After only two seasons, she has recorded over 750 kills and ranks 10th in career blocks.
Against Mississippi State, she recorded 11 blocks, her best blocking match in SEC play, to go along with 20 kills for her only double-double in conference action. The Belleville, Ill., native recorded a career-best 12 blocks against Rice, which tied for the fourth most blocks in a four-game match in LSU history. With 17 kills against the Owls, it was her first double-double of the season. She also recorded a double-double in her final regular season match against Tulane.
In 22 of the Tigers’ 33 matches, the Most Valuable Player of the Mizuno Tiger Classic and the Mizuno Invitational II recorded double-figure kills, including six 20-kill matches. Also an outstanding student, DeGirolamo was a first-team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District selection with a 3.91 grade point average in math.
The SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a two-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week selection, Martinez broke the 21-year-old conference record for digs in a single season and recorded the 11th most digs in a single season in NCAA history. She is the only player in SEC history to record 700 digs in a single season and earned the All-Region award for the first time in her career.
Averaging 5.61 digs per game for the year, she leads the league in digs per game and ranks 35th nationally. Against Alabama, she shattered the LSU single-match record for digs with 43, the most by a player in the conference this season and the only Tiger to ever record 40 digs in a match.
In just her first season as the starting libero, the New Orleans native recorded double-figure digs in every match and posted 21 or more digs in 30 of the LSU’s 33 matches. Only the second Tiger to ever record 30 digs in a match, she accomplished the feat on five occasions this season.
A member of the Iowa Challenge All-Tournament team, she broke the LSU record for digs in a four-game match with 33 against Arkansas and now holds three of the top four marks all-time in four-game matches. Overall, she holds eight of the top 10 dig marks in school history.
AVCA All-South Region Selections
Ashley Adams** Middle Tennessee State RS Jr.
Megan Argabright*** Western Kentucky MB Jr.
Ashley Asberry Middle Tennessee State MB Jr.
Elyse Cusack Florida LIB So.
Lauren DeGirolamo LSU MB So.
Marcie Hampton Florida OH Sr.
Crystal Hudson** Alabama MB Sr.
Elena Martinez LSU LIB Jr.
Angie McGinnis*** Florida S Sr.
Queen Nzenwa Kentucky MB Jr.
Yarimar Rosa** Florida International OH So.
Brittany Zahn Appalachian State OH Sr.
* – Denotes total number of years selected to AVCA All-Region Team
Region Freshman of the Year: Stefine Pease, Lipscomb, S
Honorable Mention: Nicole Britenriker (Kentucky, MB, Sr.), Leslie Clark (Middle Tennessee, S/H, So.), Rachel Kieckhaefer (Ole Miss, S, Jr.), Kim Muller (Denver, MB, Sr.), Lara Newberry (Chattanooga, DS/Lib., Jr.), Colleen Nilson (Belmont, S, Sr.)