STANFORD, Calif. – Outside hitter Elia Rubin has been named the ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for a second straight season, the conference announced today.
Joining Rubin on the All-ACC Academic Team are senior Anna Pringle, redshirt sophomores Julia Blyashov, Koko Kirsch and Ipar Kurt, and sophomores Lizzy Andrew and Taylor Yu.
A senior from Santa Monica, Rubin is majoring in science, technology and society at Stanford. She is now a three-time academic all-conference selection (2023, 2024, 2025), a three-time CSC Academic All-District pick (2023, 2024, 2025) and a two-time CSC Academic All-American (2024, 2025), including a first-team nod in 2025.
The AVCA Pacific Region Player of the Year, Rubin was a semifinalist for AVCA Player of the Year, leading the Cardinal with 3.99 points per set. She is a two-time AVCA First Team All-American, she was fourth in the ACC with 0.39 aces per set and paced the team with 3.33 kills per set and 13 double-doubles. She is just the 11th player in school history to register both 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs. In November, she set the school record for aces in the rally-scoring era to 25, finishing with 151.
It marks the seventh time a Cardinal player has earned conference scholar-athlete of the year honors in the past eight years - Tami Alade (2018), Morgan Hentz (2019), Meghan McClure (2020), Holly Campbell (2021), Caitie Baird (2023) and Rubin (2024) and the ninth time overall.
The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September of 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0-grade point average for their careers, as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters or three quarters.
Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team include a 3.0-grade point average for the previous two semesters or three quarters, a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career, has to have been enrolled at the institution for at least one year, and the student must be classified as an undergraduate. In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s athletic contests.