AMHERST, N.Y. -- After being named to the AVCA First Team All-Region Team and earning First Team All-East Coast Conference honors for the second consecutive season, graduate student right side
Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.) was named to the 43rd annual American Volleyball Coaches Association
(AVCA) NCAA Division II women's volleyball All-America Team on Wednesday afternoon, taking home AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors for the first time in her career. The AVCA All-America selections were voted on by the AVCA Division II All-America Committee. Giraud is the fifth Wildcat in Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present) to garner All-American recognition, joining
Jasmine Brundage (2023),
Charlotte Koerber (2023), Caitlyn Meyer (2021) and Ashley Drzymala (2016).
Giraud, a 5-foot-11 graduate student was one of just two players to start all 26 matches this season and led the Wildcats offensively in her final season with 305 total kills (2.90 kills/set) on 721 attacks for a .273 hitting percentage. She finished the 2024 season with 34 total blocks, 109 digs, 13 assists and five aces. Giraud totaled double-digit kills in 18 matches, including a season-high 19 kills against Gannon on Oct. 15. She posted one double-double (kills-digs) this season against Pitt-Johnstown on Sept. 21 where she tallied 18 kills and 18 digs. The graduate student finished fifth in the ECC in hitting percentage (.273) and sixth in kills (2.9/set). Giraud was named the ECC Player of the Week once this season.
After three seasons as a Wildcat, Giraud totaled 766 kills and finished her five-year collegiate career with 1,261 total kills, crossing the 1K kill mark this season. She posted 300+ kills in both her senior and graduate campaigns, totaling 332 last season and 305 this season.
Giraud helped lead Daemen to a 17-9 overall record this season and the program's fourth consecutive ECC regular season title after a 9-3 record in ECC play, sharing the title with Queens (9-3). Claiming the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, the Wildcats advanced to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament for the fourth straight year but fell in a five-set heart breaker to No. 7 seed Georgian Court in the regional quarterfinals.
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
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