MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Three student-athletes from the West Virginia University volleyball team were named to the 2021 Academic All-District 2 Volleyball First Team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Thursday.
 
Fifth-year senior outside hitter Adrian Ell, fifth-year senior libero and defensive specialist Alexa Hasting and senior setter Lacey Zerwas were honored with first-team accolades.
 
"It's great to have success on and off the court," coach Reed Sunahara said. "I'm proud of them for accomplishing great results in the classroom. Especially having a rigorous schedule. All of them have worked really hard, and it's a great way to represent being a student-athlete at WVU."

The honor is the second of Zerwas' career and first for Ell and Hasting. With three honorees, the Mountaineers now have seen 14 student-athletes earn the award since 2000 and 21 all-time.

The honorees now advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America National ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honors will be selected in the coming weeks.
 
A Cincinnati, Ohio, native, Ell came to Morgantown in January 2021 and has started all 24 matches since becoming a Mountaineer. Previously, Ell played volleyball at Florida State before transferring to WVU. She has tallied 308 kills, 584 digs and 62 service aces throughout her career.
 
Since joining the Mountaineers, Ell has recorded eight double-doubles and leads the team this season in single-match kills (21) and attacks (57). She paces the squad this season with a team-high 271 kills.  
 
Hasting, a native of Plain City, Ohio, has played in 137 matches as a Mountaineer, including 509 sets, throughout five seasons with the team. Overall, Hasting has recorded 1767 career digs. She has recorded 20 or more digs in 16 matches.
 
Additionally, Hasting leads the team in digs, with 304, and sits second in assists, with 71.
 
A three-time Academic All-Big 12 First team honoree, Hasting currently holds a cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of 4.0 in digital marketing communications. She also has been honored as a member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll.

A Phoenix, Arizona, native, Zerwas has played in 103 career matches for the Mountaineers, including 372 career sets, through four seasons with the squad. She paced the team with 854 assists in 2021, while she also notched 21 service aces and 33 kills. Zerwas boasts 3,688 career assists.
 
A three-year captain, Zerwas has recorded 31 double-doubles in her career and holds 823 career digs and 3,688 career assists.
 
She also was named to the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 First Team. Zerwas has a GPA of 4.0 in management. She also has been honored as a member of the President's List, Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Garrett Ford Academic Honor Roll.
 
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