RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The Southland Conference (SLC) announced the 2025 Volleyball All-Academic Awards on Friday and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) junior setter Isabella Costantini was named the Student-Athlete of the Year. 
 
Costantini and four teammates – sophomore outside hitter Martina Franco, freshman outside hitter Dimitra Nanou, redshirt sophomore middle blocker Julianna Bryant and senior right side Valentina Sarti Cipriani – all made the All-Academic Team. 
 
To be eligible for the All-Academic Team, volleyball student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better with at least one semester completed at the nominating institution and must have participated in at least 50% of the team's matches. To be eligible for Student-Athlete of the Year, the minimum GPA is 3.50 along with the other requirements. 
 
Costantini's Student-Athlete of the Year award adds to a long list of accolades after UTRGV's stellar 2025 season. Costantini was named the SLC Setter of the Year and to the All-Conference First Team for the second consecutive season. She made the SLC All-Tournament Team and was a three-time Setter of the Week honoree after helping UTRGV to the regular season championship and the conference tournament championship match. 
 
Costantini finished the season leading the conference with 10.62 assists/set, 57 aces and 0.54 aces/set. She totaled 1,115 assists while facilitating the offense to a program-record .275 hitting percentage. The CSC Academic All-District honoree was a multidisciplinary studies student at UTRGV focusing on kinesiology, biology and nutritional sciences. 
 
Franco, a kinesiology student, was named the SLC Newcomer of the Year and made the All-Conference First Team. She led UTRGV's versatile offense averaging 3.44 kills/set and totaled 248 kills on .258 hitting in her first season with the Vaqueros. Franco tabbed six double-doubles as she averaged 2.43 digs/set and had three matches with 20+ kills. 
 
Nanou was voted as the SLC Freshman of the Year and made the All-Conference First Team. She tabbed eight double-doubles in her rookie season, recording a team-high 294 kills while averaging 3.09 kills/set on a .275 hitting percentage and 2.61 digs/set. She was second on the team with 39 aces and entered UTRGV's freshman season record books by collecting top 5 marks in hitting percentage and aces. She is pursuing a degree in biology. 
 
Bryant made the All-Conference Second Team and the All-Tournament Team in her comeback season after her 2024 campaign was cut short due to injury. She led UTRGV averaging 1.03 blocks/set with 96 total blocks and recorded 2.09 kills/set on a .280 hitting percentage. Bryant, a criminal justice student, had six matches with five or more blocks and seven matches with double-digit kills. 
 
Cipriani entered the program record books as she tabbed the third-best single-season hitting percentage of .306 in program history. She contributed 2.53 kills/set and 0.61 blocks/set in her lone season at UTRGV. The mass communication student was extremely efficient, hitting over .400 in six matches and reached double-digit kills in nine contests. Her best hitting performance was a match at Northwestern State, when she collected 10 kills with no errors on 13 attempts for a .769 hitting percentage – the fifth-best single-match mark in program history. 
 
Southland Volleyball All-Academic Awards 
Student-Athlete of the Year: Isabella Costantini, UTRGV
 
All-Academic Team
Isabella Costantini, UTRGV
Martina Franco, UTRGV
Dimitra Nanou, UTRGV
Julianna Bryant, UTRGV
Valentina Sarti Cipriani, UTRGV
Gracie Campbell, East Texas A&M
Rendi Fetty, East Texas A&M
Haley Mullaney, East Texas A&M
Jade Washington, East Texas A&M
Allana Archie, Houston Christian University
Katy Barger, Houston Christian University
Joya Euhus, Houston Christian University
Peyton Fadal, Houston Christian University
Hannah Redrow, Houston Christian University
Alex Beauchamp, UIW
Vanessa Eregie, UIW
Finley Evans, UIW
Kyla Malone, UIW
Alexa Gonzalez, Lamar
Lyric Jordan, Lamar
Hailey McElrath, Lamar
Taisha Rhone, Lamar
Daniella Udegbunam, Lamar
Neal Grace Berry, McNeese
Lauren Fuller, McNeese
Ava Henry, McNeese
Kinga Ziolkowska, McNeese
Vanae Sapp, New Orleans
Alessandra Meoni, New Orleans
Defne Eciroglu, New Orleans
Lani Alleman, New Orleans
Courtney Roundtree, New Orleans
Tierney Terrell, Nicholls
Olivia Bush, Northwestern State
Julia Whitfield, Northwestern State
Emmarie McFarland, Northwestern State
Samaya Wesson, Northwestern State
Makenna Tryon, Northwestern State
India Bennett, Southeastern
Ainsley Driska, Southeastern
Lily Morgan, Southeastern
Alexis Logarbo, Southeastern
Peyton Stokley, Southeastern
Caroline Kahle, Stephen F. Austin
Kyanna Creecy, Stephen F. Austin
Jayden Flynn, Stephen F. Austin
Izabella Ortiz, Stephen F. Austin
Katherine Holtman, Stephen F. Austin
Brooklyn Jaeger, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Virginia Ban Der Werff, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Kenna Buchanan, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Katelyn Krienke, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Kaitlyn Baumann, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

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