Caten Becomes First Jayhawk To Be Named 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American

Dec. 20, 2005

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

University of Kansas senior outside hitter Paula Caten (Canarana, Brazil) recently made history by becoming the first Jayhawk volleyball player to earn ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

Caten became KU volleyball’s first All-American after earning 2005 ESPN the Magazine Academic First Team All-District honors on Nov. 10. She was one of just six Division I volleyball players chosen for national first-team honors, joining Sarah Pavan and Christina Houghtelling of Nebraska, Kate Bean of Toledo, Kate Duchek of Xavier and Jackie Choi of New Mexico State.

“This award represents the tremendous amount of hard work Paula has done in the classroom and on the volleyball court,” KU head coach Ray Bechard said. “She mirrors the true student-athlete balance we are looking for here at the University of Kansas.”

The 6-3 communications studies major maintains a 4.0 grade point average at KU and finished third on the team with 3.17 kills and 2.29 digs per game while helping the Jayhawks to their third straight NCAA Tournament bid.

As a junior, Caten started all 31 of KU’s matches and averaged 2.78 kills per game after being named the 2004 Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Caten led the Jayhawk offense in the 2004 NCAA Tournament, averaging 4.00 kills per game and setting the KU record for most kills in a postseason match (24 at Washington, Dec. 4, 2004).

Caten was a two-time junior college All-American at Barton County C.C. in Great Bend, Kan., as a freshman and sophomore. The Brazil native came to the United States after playing for the Pinheiros Club in Sao Paulo.

The 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Women’s Volleyball Team was voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

For more information and a complete listing of award winners, log on to www.cosida.com.