BATON ROUGE — LSU junior volleyball player Lauren DeGirolamo was named to the sixth annual Southeastern Conference Volleyball Community Service Team, the league office announced Tuesday.
DeGirolamo’s season was cut short on Oct. 3 against Ole Miss when she went down with a season-ending knee injury, but she did not let that stop her from continuing to pursue numerous service opportunities in the local Baton Rouge community.
DeGirolamo has represented the LSU volleyball team for two years on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and she also volunteered at the Best Buddies Friendship Walk where she visited and encouraged intellectually-challenged friends. She has made numerous visits to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Ward to cheer up patients and spend time with them.
DeGirolamo spearheaded the volleyball team’s activity station at LSU’s Halloween BOOzar where the team played “spider volleyball” with the kids and handed out candy. She has participated in the SEC Together We CAN Food Drive as well as serving as a volunteer for the Big Buddy Program’s Evening of Champions. DeGirolamo also volunteered her services for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Telethon, and she also was an MDA Strides and Rides volunteer where she helped set up the event and then encouraged kids with muscular dystrophy to finish the race.
She has volunteered at St. Vincent de Paul where she has helped serve lunch to the needy at the organization’s homeless shelter, and she volunteered last spring to put together Tiger Palooza, a fundraiser set up to raise money for a former LSU soccer player who is battling cancer.
A 6-1 middle blocker from Belleville, Ill., DeGirolamo is also an outstanding scholar-athlete as she has been named a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member. She was listed as a member in 2006 and 2007 and was a member of the Freshman Academic Honor Roll in 2005.
For her efforts on the volleyball court, DeGirolamo was also named to the 2006 SEC All-Freshman Team and was a member of the 2007 All-SEC First Team as well as earning AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors after leading the team with a .332 hitting percentage and 195 blocks.
The SEC sponsors Community Service Teams for all 20 league sponsored sports. The Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts.