Four Cyclones Earn Academic Honors

AMES, Iowa ? The Big 12 Conference has announced that four members of the Iowa State volleyball team have been designated with academic-all conference honors for the 2006 season. The Cyclones had a pair of players on the first team and a pair on the second team. With the four players honored, ISU tied for sixth among the 11 Big 12 universities competing in volleyball. Kansas State and Nebraska led the league with eight members.

The league requires first team honorees to have earned a grade point average of 3.20 or greater and second team members to attain a 3.00 grade point minimum. Underclass members of both teams must also meet participation minimums to qualify.

Nicole Lorenzen, a senior outside hitter from Fremont, Iowa, garnered first team honors for the fourth time in her career. The chemical engineering major earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII first team honors last week and is eligible for Academica All-America honors, which will be voted on later this month. She has 865 career kills and 832 digs, making her the only active Cyclone with over 800 in each category. Lorenzen is also having the best year of her career, averaging 2.51 kills per game and 3.06 digs. She posted a career-high 22 digs against the top-ranked team in the land, Nebraska, last week.

Joining Lorenzen on the first team was junior middle blocker Erin Boeve, who earns academic all-Big 12 honors for the first time in her career. Boeve, a community and public health major from Steen, Minn., is one of the top players in the Big 12. She earned preseason all-Big 12 honors and was named Big 12 Player of the Week and Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week for Oct. 2. Boeve, who last week was named to the ESPN The Magazine All-District VII third team, leads the Big 12 with 1.64 blocks per game, in addition to contributing 3.31 kills on a career-best .321 hitting percentage. She sits just 13 block assists shy of becoming the school's career leader in block assists.

Laura Cady, a junior exercise and sport science major from Marshall, Minn., was named to the second team. Cady, a defensive specialist, earns the honor for the first time in her career. She is averaging a career-high 2.58 digs per game and posted a career-high 22 against Nebraska. She also has 15 service aces on the season.

Katie Jessen, a marketing major, joins Cady on the second team, marking the third year in a row that she has been honored. A senior outside hitter from Kansas City, Mo., Jessen ranks in the top-10 of the Big 12 in kills (3.89) and points (4.39) and leads the Cyclones with 358 kills on the season. Earlier in the season, she became just the sixth Cyclone to eclipse the 1,000-kill plateau. She currently sits in fifth all-time with 1,136, just 100 out of third place in the Cyclone record books.

The Cyclones, with four regular season matches remaining, host Texas Tech Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum. Admission to the match is free with a women's basketball ticket for the Cal State Fullerton game, which will start at 7:30 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Erin Boeve

Erin Boeve

Laura Cady

Laura Cady

Katie Jessen

Katie Jessen

Nicole Lorenzen

Nicole Lorenzen

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