Diana Brown Named CSC Academic All-American

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Capping off a historic career in the Orange and Blue, Illinois volleyball’s Diana Brown was named a College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America® First Team selection, the organization announced on Wednesday.

Brown, a masters student studying Community Health, started every match this season for the Fighting Illini, accumulating over 1,000 assists just this year while averaging 10.10 assists per set. The Columbus, Ohio, native tallied over 50 assists on three separate occasions. The redshirt senior dished out a season-best 53 assists in a five-set thriller with Minnesota (Nov. 6). Brown added 51 assists against Purdue (Sept. 30) and an even 50 assists at Wisconsin (Oct. 2).

Defensively this season, Brown finished second on the Illini squad with 283 digs. The setter averaged 2.60 digs per set this year. Brown tallied double-digit digs on 14 separate occasions, resulting in 14 double-doubles for her senior campaign. 

During her career in the Orange and Blue, Brown held 4,247 assists. The mark puts the setter fifth all-time in the Illinois record books. Her 54 career double-doubles also left Brown tied for fourth in the Illini history books.

Brown was the only graduate student placed on the first team. She joined Minnesota’s CC McGraw and Nebraska’s Lexi Rodriguez as the only players to represent the Big Ten.

This is the second-straight season Brown was named an Academic All-American. The setter was previous named CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team in 2021. She joins Laura Bush as the only two-time academic All-American in program history.