WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior Katie Russell of the Holy Cross volleyball team has been named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team as voted on by the league's sports information directors announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

Russell a political science major and a three-time Patriot League academic honor roll selection has posted a 3.73 cumulative GPA. She becomes the ninth different student-athlete in program history to earn Academic All-League honors. This is the fourth straight year a Crusader volleyball athlete has earned a spot on the team.

In 2025, Russell has appeared in all 32 matches for the Crusaders, making 28 starts pacing the team in assists (821) and assists per set (6.73) while ranking second in aces (34), digs (233), and fourth in digs per set (1.91). This season, she climbed from not ranked to sixth place on the program's career assist list (1,674).

The setter ranks third in the Patriot League in assists (821) and third in assists per set (6.73). In conference contests, ranks third in assists (480) and assists per set (7.50). She tallied seven matches of 40+ assists and four double-double efforts (assists and digs) while five of the seven 40+ assist matches were in league play, as well as two of the four double-double efforts.

Russell has posted two of the top three single-match assist totals in the Patriot League this season. During the 3-1 victory over New Haven (Oct. 21, Russell recorded a Patriot League season-high 65 assists which is currently tied for the second most in the NCAA this season and the most in a 4-set match. She then dished out 57 assists in a 3-2 comeback win over Lafayette (Nov. 15), the 57 assists were the third most in a match in the Patriot League this season.

A valued member of the Holy Cross Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Russell was a  member of The Engaged Athlete Fellowship and interned with them in Washington, D.C., this past summer. She also has volunteered her time this fall as a Move-In Day volunteer at Worcester Public Schools, voter registration, and the Holy Cross office of sustainability.

The Patriot League Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and Academic All-Patriot League team honors student-athletes who excel both on and off the court. The awards are nominated and voted on by the Patriot League volleyball sports information directors who cannot vote for their own student-athletes. To be eligible for the Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and the Academic All-Patriot League team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average and be a starter or key player in his/her sport. 

Holy Cross finished the 2025 campaign with a 9-23 record and 3-13 mark in Patriot League play. The nine victories were their most in a season since 2016 and three conference wins were their most since 2020.

2025 Women's Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Madison McCartney, Lehigh, Sr., MB
 
2025 Women's Volleyball Academic All-League Team
Deniz Dakak, American, So., S
Bella Marrero, American, So. L
Carly Sciborski, American, Jr., OPP
Mackenzie Lynch, Army West Point, Sr., OH
Caleigh O'Connell, Bucknell, Sr., S
Riley Tucker, Bucknell, Sr., MB
Katie Russell, Holy Cross, Sr., S
Olivia Lasee, Lehigh, Jr., MB
Madison McCartney, Lehigh, Sr., MB
Riley Hamilton, Loyola Maryland, Gr., OH
 
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