University Park, Pa. — Penn State men’s volleyball senior middle hitter Max Lipsitz (Williamsville, N.Y.) has been named an ESPN The Magazine Second Team Academic All-American, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Tuesday.
It is the second career honor for Lipsitz and the ninth for a Nittany Lion men’s volleyball player. Lipsitz was also selected to the Academic All-America second team in 2008. Past men’s volleyball honorees include Byron Schneider (1994), Ivan Contreras (1996-97), Tony Mazzullo (1999), Zeljko Koljesar (2003) and Keith Kowal (2004-05).
Lipsitz, PSU’s eighth Academic All-American this year, is Penn State’s 158th CoSIDA Academic All-American all-time, the nation’s third highest total. Penn State has had 110 Academic All-Americans since Tim Curley became Director of Athletics in December of 1993, a total higher than any Big Ten institution has all-time since the Academic All-America program’s inception in 1952.
Lipsitz recently earned his finance degree, graduating with a 3.43 grade point average (GPA). In his final season with the Nittany Lion men’s volleyball team, Lipsitz guided PSU to its sixth NCAA Championship match appearance. The team finished the season with a 24-8 mark, including an undefeated 10-0 record in EIVA play for the second consecutive season. Lipsitz was named an AVCA First Team All-American for the second straight year and was also picked for the NCAA Championship All-Tournament Team. A First Team All-EIVA selection, Lipsitz led the nation with a .524 hitting percentage. He also led the Nittany Lions in blocking, averaging 1.42 blocks per set, and was third on the team with 3.61 kills per set.
The Men’s At-Large program for the Academic All-America program includes the sports of fencing, golf gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling. Lipsitz was the only men’s volleyball player to be named to the three Academic All-America squads, which totaled 48 men’s student-athletes from across the nation in the listed Division I at-large sports.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his current institution and be nominated by his sports information/athletic communications director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 15,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
