Fort Atkinson's Pfeifer Named Volleyball Academic All-American at UW-Whitewater

2016 Dec 6

Lauren Pfeifer, a native of Fort Atkinson, WI, and senior on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater volleyball team, has been named second team Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Pfeifer, a graduate of Fort Atkinson High School, is one of 18 Division III volleyball student-athletes to earn Academic All-America distinction. She is the Warhawks' first Academic All-American since 2002 (Kristin Dettman) and the only player from the state of Wisconsin to earn the honor this season.

Pfeifer currently carries a 3.88 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale and is majoring in corporate/health communication. She became eligible to garner Academic All-America accolades after being tabbed Academic All-District in early November.

An outside hitter, Pfeifer was selected first team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after leading UW-Whitewater to the WIAC regular season and tournament championships. She helped the Warhawks reach the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 2007.

Pfeifer led the team and ranked sixth in the conference with 386 kills (2.90 per set) and 470.5 points (3.54 per set). She added 34 service aces, 348 digs (2.62 per set) and 89 blocks (0.67 per set).

Pfeifer was named the WIAC Volleyball Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete and has been active on campus and in the community. She currently serves as president of UW-Whitewater's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and assistant director of the Warhawk Leadership Academy. Pfeifer has attended the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum and the NCAA CHOICES Apple Conference on behalf of the athletic department, and has volunteered at Fairhaven Senior Community.

Pfeifer finished her career ranked fourth in program history in kills (1,560), third in attacks (4,413), 22nd in service aces (112), 15th in digs (1,243) and 11th in blocks (338). She helped lead the Warhawks to two WIAC regular season championships, two WIAC Tournament titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances.

In 2015, Pfeifer was named a third team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She was a three-time first team All-WIAC and three-time All-Midwest Region pick during her career, and was the 2013 AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year.