Nov. 9, 2006

Villanova, PA - The 2007 CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American team for District 2 has been announced, and Villanova has one representative from volleyball on the first team. Senior middle blocker Adrian Semrau (Grafton, Ohio) has been named to the First Team for District 2.

As a result of being named to the first team in her district, Semrau will automatically be considered for the national academic all-american award, which will be announced on November 28.

The award is given to those student-athletes that have excelled in the classroom as well as in their sport. Semrau has carried a 3.95 cumulative GPA through her career at Villanova while majoring in Economics. Last year, she was also honored with the Sister Mary Margaret Cribben Award for academic and athletic excellence at Villanova as well as the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team. In the three season prior to this one, Semrau has been named a BIG EAST Academic All-Star in all three seasons aw well.

But her success also extends to the court as well.

This season, Semrau surpassed the 1,000 kill plateau and has also moved into 4th place on the career block assists list at Villanova. She also ranks fifth in solo blocks for a career at Villanova and is on pace to rank in the top five in a number of other categories before the season is over.

The last time a Wildcat volleyball player was named to the district academic all-american team was in 2004 when Celine Nguyen received the honor. Two other former Villanova volleyball players were honored on the national level for their academic performance. In 2000, Ruth Ann Blankenheim was named an Academic All-American while Amy Lam earned the same honor in 1995. In 1994, Lam was named to the All-American second team at the national level.

Semrau and the Wildcats will hit the road for the final weekend of BIG EAST play, traveling to Connecticut on Saturday and St. John's on Sunday.