AUSTIN, Texas – The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) named its Academic All-America teams on Thursday morning. Wyoming senior standout Laura Beach adds to an already historical career by being named to the Academic All-American Third Team. In the history of Wyoming volleyball, she is just the third Academic All-American and first since JennaRae Jester in 2010, who earned second team recognition.
The senior from Lakewood, Colo., carries a 3.95 GPA, majoring in Kinesiology and Health Promotion. Beach was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team that was announced in early November and to round out Beach’s body of work off the court, she has earned recognition as a MW Scholar Athlete three times. She received an AVCA All-Pacific Region honorable mention nod on Tuesday while once again being named All-MW just a week prior.
Beach, a three-time All-MW player, finished first in career hitting percentage at Wyoming, tallying .372. She completed her four-year career wearing the Brown and Gold with 109 consecutive starts and was also fifth in career blocks with 438, in addition to claiming 12th place with 982 kills. She twice led the Mountain West and was frequently among the nation’s best in hitting percentage. Beach led the team with 295 kills and a .399 hitting percentage this past season. She started in all 31 matches for the Cowgirls and her hitting percentage (.399) topped the MW and was 14th in the NCAA. It was also the fourth-best in Wyoming single-season history.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
CoSIDA Academic All-America
First Team
Paige Tapp, Minnesota
Teegan Van Gunst, Georgia Tech
Aubrey Edie, Mississippi
Leah Mikesky, Rice
Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska
Second Team
Ashley Evans, Purdue
Kayla Ostrom, Lipscomb
Krystal Rivers, Alabama
Marguerite Grubb, Texas Tech
Lily Johnson, Missouri State
Jaelyn Keene, Illinois State
Third Team
Laura Beach, Wyoming
Hayleigh Washington, Penn State
Kelsey Bittinger, Kent State
Lauren Carlini, Wisconsin
Kyra Coundourides, Temple
Hannah Klemm, Hofstra
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