Bradley University Athletics

Honors & Awards

• MVC Defensive Player of the Week (09-03-13)
• Honorable Mention MVC Scholar-Athlete (2013)
• Omaha Marriott Classic All-Tournament Team (2013)
• Panther Invitational All-Tournament Team (2012)
• Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week (10-02-13 & 09-05-12)
• MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award (2014)
• MVC Honor Roll (2014)
• Bradley AD Honor Roll (Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013 & Spring 2014)

2013 Season (Senior): Earned honorable mention MVC Scholar-Athlete honors … Her 543 digs rank as the second-best season total in school history behind Stacy Besjak’s school record 606 digs in 1985 … Finished her career fifth in digs at Bradley with 1,343 … Only player in school history to have two outings with 35 or more digs and is the only individual at Bradley to have three matches with 30 or more digs …  Tied the Bradley record for digs in a three-set match with 22 digs against Maryland-Eastern Shore … Named MVC Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 3 after averaging 6.00 digs per set in three matches and helping Bradley to a second-place finish at the CEFCU Classic … Named to the all-tournament team at the Omaha Marriott Classic  after averaging 5.00 digs and 0.33 aces per set, while helping the Braves to the tournament title … Selected as Bradley Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Oct. 2 after helping Bradley rally for a five-set win at Southern Illinois … Had 13 outings with 20 digs or better and ranked third in the MVC in digs per set at 4.98 … Averaged 4.89 digs per set in Missouri Valley Conference play and set a new school season record with 347 digs in conference action … Helped Bradley rank second in the MVC in digs per set and post the squad’s best highest dig per set average (17.06) since the 2006 season … Ranked 32nd in the nation in digs per set. 

2012 Season (Junior): Moved to libero after playing middle blocker and outside hitter her first two seasons ... Finished her junior season with 498 for the fourth-highest season dig total in school history ... Had 13 outings with 20 or more digs, which is believed to be a school record ... Led the team and ranked eighth in the MVC with a 4.53 digs per set average .... Tallied a season-high 31 digs at Drake to tie for the sixth most digs in a match in school history ... Also ranked second on the squad with 17 aces ... Was named to the all-tournament team at the Panther Invitational, averaging 4.13 digs per set in two matches at libero and filling in at setter for the first time in her career against Western Michigan ... Had a streak of 22 matches with 10 or more digs ... Broke the Bradley season record for digs in MVC play, collecting 327 to top Gillian Falknor's previous mark of 307 digs in 2005 ... Was named the Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week for the week of Sept. 5 ... Enters her senior season 24th in career digs at Bradley with 800 and is the 10th player in program history to tally 800 career digs before the start of their senior season. 

2011 Season (Sophomore): Saw action in 13 matches, making two starts ... Started her first match of the year against St. Francis (Pa.) ... Collected a season-high 15 digs at Drake in her only other start of the year.  

2010 Season (Freshman): One of three players to appear in all 31 matches, she started 28 games and was one of the Braves top outside hitters in addition to serving as a primary passer ... Ranked fourth on the team with 164 kills and was third with 260 digs ... Tied for third on the team with 16 service aces ... Her 260 digs ranks as the ninth best total by a Bradley frosh ... Had two matches with 20 or more digs and tied for team-high honors with three double-doubles ... Reached double figures in kills five times and had 10 outings with 10 or more digs ... Had a season-high 12 kills against USC Upstate and later matched wt with 12 kills to help Bradley to a win at Evansville ... Turned in a season-best 21 digs against Southeast Missouri State.

York High School:  A two-time team MVP ... Named team captain each of her final two prep seasons ... Helped the Dukes to a conference championship as a junior and two IHSA Regional titles ... Led York to an IHSA Sectional runner-up finish in her final prep season ... Earned all-conference honors as a senior ... Also named to the All-Area team by the DuPage Daily Herald in addition to garnering Conference Player of the Year honors from the Elmhurst Press ... Was an all-state special mention from the Chicago Sun-Times and honorable mention all-state fromt he Champaign News Gazette.

Personal: The daughter of Larry and Mary Ellen Zerante, Lauren was born in Elmhurst, Ill. ... The youngest of four children, she has three older brothers: Larry, Ryan and Nick ... Majoring in marketing ... Her father Larry played baseball at Texas Wesleyan and played one year with the Chicago Cubs minor league affiliate in the Gulf Coast League ... Her brother Ryan was a three-time letterwinner on the football team at Dayton and her brother Nick was a four-time letterwinner on the football team at Cornell.

Career Stats