Dec. 10, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State women's volleyball sophomore Haleigh Washington has earned Second Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, as announced the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) this morning. Washington was selected from a group of more than 40 student-athletes who earned academic all-district honors earlier this season.
Washington is Penn State's 17th Academic All-America selection in program history and the first Nittany Lion to garner recognition since Katie Slay in 2013.
Washington was recently selected as a member of the 2015 AVCA All-Northeast Region team, while also earning All-Big Ten honors just a week prior. The 2014 Big Ten Freshman of the Year was frequently among the nation's best in hitting efficiency throughout the season. Her .443 hitting percentage presently ranks third nationally, first in the Big Ten and eighth on the Penn State single-season all-time list. In the Nittany Lion record book, her .451 career hitting clip is slotted second all-time.
Washington's also leading the team with 1.40 blocks per set, helped out by multi-block performances in 32 of Penn State's 33 matches this season. Washington was named Big Ten Player of the Week four times this season and set a career-high mark with 11 total blocks in a win against St. Johns, marking the second highest tally in a single-match 3-set outing in Penn State program history.
Off the court, the philosophy major is involved in Penn State women's volleyball's volunteering efforts with the Special Olympics. Washington also spends summers coaching and mentoring young campers who attend Penn State volleyball camps in Happy Valley. She can also be found at nearly any free moment with a book in hand. Whether it's poetry, philosophy or history, there is no genre that's out of the question for Washington.
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.
Washington is also among a group of nine Academic All-America honorees who represent teams that qualified for the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Just 18 Academic All-Americans are selected and placed in three teams from a group of more than 40 all-district honorees.
Penn State women's volleyball (28-5) is set to make its 13th consecutive appearance in the NCAA regional semifinals, taking on Hawaii (28-1) in the round of 16 Friday, Dec. 11 at 8:30 p.m. ET in Wells Fargo Arena. The matchup will stream live on ESPN3.
To view the complete list of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, please click here.