Release courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications

CoSIDA Academic All-America Volleyball Team

BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins senior Natalie Aston has been named the 2021 CoSIDA Volleyball Academic All-American of the Year. In addition, the Blue Jays placed a national-best three players on the Academic All-America Teams. Aston earned first honors while senior Eleni Panagopoulos and graduate student Sydney Portale were named to the second team.
 
Aston is the eighth Johns Hopkins student-athlete to be named CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and the first Blue Jay volleyball player. Hopkins has now produced six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and has had at least one selection in each of the last four years. The three selections this year are a program record and  Hopkins is one of just two schools in the nation, at any level, with three CoSIDA Volleyball Academic All-Americans in 2021.
 
A three-time AVCA All-American, Aston earns her second career First Team Academic All-America honor. She is the 11th Blue Jay in Johns Hopkins history, and just the fourth woman, to earn First Team Academic All-America honors twice. The two-time AVCA Region and Centennial Conference Player of the Year, Aston is majoring in behavioral biology and psychology and carries a 3.81 cumulative GPA. She rang up 1,030 assists, 215 digs, 85 blocks and 84 kills during the 2021 season and concluded her career ranked fourth in school history in assists (2,841), third in attack percentage (.325) and seventh in blocks (255).
 
Panagopoulos garners her first career Academic All-America honor. She is majoring in both biology and psychology and has a 3.84 cumulative GPA. A two-time AVCA All-American, Panagopoulos led the team in hitting percentage this season (.397) on 166 kills and capped her career with 678 kills and a .311 attack percentage; she is one of just five players in school history with a career percentage above .300 on a minimum of 700 attacks.
 
Portale earns her second Academic All-America honor after picking up First Team honors last season. She earned her undergraduate degree in strategic communications and finished with a 3.81 GPA. She is currently pursuing a master's in communications. Porale grabbed Third Team AVCA All-America honors this season after leading the team with 229 kills and adding 44 blocks.
 
Johns Hopkins concluded the 2021 season with a 31-1 record and advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.  The Blue Jays spent nine weeks ranked number one in the nation.  Prior to falling in the Sweet 16, Johns Hopkins has won an NCAA Division III-record 66 consecutive matches dating back to 2019.