SAN DIEGO – San Diego State sophomore Taylor Underwood (Norco, Calif./Norco HS/DePaul) was named to the CSC Academic All-District Women's Volleyball Team for her combined performance in the classroom and on the court, as announced Tuesday by College Sports Communicators, formerly known as the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
To be eligible for nomination to the 2023 CSC Academic All-District Women's Volleyball Team, candidates must have competed in 90 percent of the team's sets played during the season or started in two-thirds of the team's scheduled matches while maintaining a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 or higher.
After careful consideration, Underwood has qualified for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team CSC Academic All-America honorees will be announced Jan. 9, 2024.
A transfer from DePaul University, Underwood made a tremendous impact in her first season with the Aztecs, earning all-Mountain West honors after ranking sixth in the conference with 3.38 kills and 3.88 points per set against league opponents during the 2023 campaign.
For all matches, Underwood led the Scarlet and Black with 3.12 kills per set, surpassing the double-digit plateau in that category in 20 of 29 outings. The Norco, California, native was also slotted sixth in the MW with an average of 0.35 service aces per set (37 overall) during the regular season.
In a home match against Air Force on Oct. 5, Underwood (.481) smashed a career-high 31 kills, which marked the third-highest figure in the conference this season. Additionally, the Aztec opposite hitter set a school record for put-aways in the rally scoring era (since 2001) and registered the highest kill total by an SDSU player since Martina Vitkova-Engels (37) and Carrie Mapes (33) combined for 70 non-returnables in the Aztecs' five-set triumph over Wyoming in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament during the sideout era on Nov. 25, 1997.
Earlier in the year, Underwood served up a career-high five aces in a pair of victories over Denver (Sept. 8) and Eastern Washington (Sept. 16), which was tied for the sixth-best output in the conference this season. She was one of just three players to appear in all 107 sets for the Scarlet and Black this year.
Underwood is majoring in psychology at San Diego State and has maintained a 3.68 cumulative GPA.
The CSC Academic All-America program separately recognizes volleyball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
For more information about the CSC Academic All-District and Academic All-America Teams program, visit AcademicAllAmerica.com.