Lisella Named Defensive Player of the Year; Buffs Place Four on All-Pac-12 Teams

SAN FRANCISCO — University of Colorado senior Julia Lisella has been named the 2021 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday afternoon.

Lisella, along with three other teammates, were named to the All-Pac-12 Conference Lacrosse teams. Senior Sadie Grozier (attacker) and graduate student Kate White (defender), along with Lisella, earned spots on the first team, while junior Charlie Rudy (attacker) was selected to the second team.

Lisella is the first goalkeeper in conference history to earn the defensive player of the year honor. Her teammate, Sarah Brown, was the first athlete to receive the award in 2018 as a defender and in 2019, USC's Jackie Gilbert, another defender, picked up the honor. No postseason awards were handed out in 2020 due to the shortened season.

The Littleton, Colo. native has started and played in every minute of CU's 13 games this season. She is averaging 10.31 saves per game which ranks 13^th in the NCAA and her 49.1 saves percentage is 14^th in the nation. She leads the team with 3.00 ground balls per game (28^th in the NCAA) and her 10.64 goals-against average is 28^th in the NCAA. Lisella leads the Pac-12 in goals-against average, saves percentage, saves per game and total saves (134).

During six games this season she recorded 10 or more saves; which included tying her career-high (17) against Arizona State on March 28. Lisella was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Buffs pick up wins against USC and ASU, April 2 and 4, respectively, at Kittredge Field. Lisella, along with the rest of the CU defense, held the Trojans scoreless for over the final 25 minutes of play when the Buffs rallied from a five-goal deficit (11-6) and defeated USC 13-11.

This is her third all-conference team honor. She has been a member of the first team twice (2019 and '21) and a second team selection once (2019).

Grozier is making her second all-conference appearance, her first selection on the first team as she was named to the second team in 2019. She is CU's second-leading scorer with 30 goals, which is seventh in the Pac-12, and is also second for the Buffs in assists (12). Grozier leads the Pac-12 in free-position goals per game (1.08), which ranks 18^th in the NCAA. She ranks third in the conference in shots per game (7.00) and is fifth in shots on goal per game (5.25). She has played in 12 of 13 games this season and has scored at least one point in every game she has played.

Grozier tied her career-high for goals twice this season, scoring five against San Diego State (March 14) and USC (April 2). In both games she also tied her career-best for points with six, adding one assist. In the win against SDSU, Grozier recorded a CU single-game record with 15 shots. She also put her name in the single-game record book twice when she scored three free-position goals against Denver (Feb. 28) and Arizona State (April 4), which is tied for fourth.

White has been a strong addition to the team at defense this year. A transfer from Dartmouth, she earned a spot in the line-up immediately, starting all in all 13 games. She ranks third on the team with 24 ground balls and leads CU with 15 caused turnovers. Her 1.15 caused turnovers per game ranks sixth in the Pac-12.

CU has cleared at a 92.3% this season, which starts with a strong defense. She often marks up the opponents' top scorer and has limited their shot attempts. White has also been part of CU's defense that has shut down opponents to force shot clock violations. This is her first All-Pac-12 First Team honor.

Rudy is making her first appearance on the all-conference team as a member of the second team. Colorado's leading scorer with 45 goals this season, she ranks second in the conference in goals and is third in goals per game (3.46). Nationally she is 25^th in goals and 26^th in goals per game. Rudy's free-position percentage (55.6) leads the Pac-12, as does her shots per game (8.38) and her shots on goal per game (6.23), which are ninth and 11th in the NCAA, respectively.

Rudy has scored in every game this season, but her streak goes back to 2020 as she recorded at least one point in each of the five games in that season. She recorded a season-best seven goals against California (March 22) and Arizona State (March 28) and has recorded four or more goals in six games this year.

The Buffs (7-6) will face Southern California (9-6) Thursday, May 6, at 8:30 p.m. MT in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament. It will be televised live on Pac-12 Network.

2021 Pac-12 Conference Women's Lacrosse Post-Season Awards
Attacker of the Year: Ali Baiocco, Stanford
Midfielder of the Year: Kelsey Huff, USC
Defensive Player of the Year: Julia Lisella, Colorado
Freshman of the Year: Madison Waters, USC
Coach of the Year: Tim McCormack, Arizona State

All-Pac-12 First Team
Carley Adams, A, Sr., Arizona State
Ali Baiocco, A, Sr., Stanford
Lizabanks Campagna, D, Sr., California
Bella Gaspar, D., Fr., Arizona State
Emily Glagolev, A, Sr., Arizona State
Sadie Grozier, A, Sr., Colorado
Kelsey Huff, M, Sr., USC
Julia Lisella, GK, Sr., Colorado
Maddie McDaniel, M, Sr., USC
Kyra Pelton, D, Sr., Stanford
Mikaela Watson, M, Sr., Stanford
Kate White, D., Gr., Colorado

All-Pac-12 Second Team
Berkeley Bonneau, GK, Sr., Arizona State
Maura Cissel, D, Sr., Arizona State
Kerri Clayton, A, Gr., Arizona State
Ella Heaney, A, So., USC
Hanna Hilcoff, A, So., Oregon
Jacie Lemos, M, Sr., Stanford
Galen Lew, A, Sr., Stanford
Genesis Lucero, M, Sr., Stanford
Izzy McMahon, A, Sr., USC
Charlie Rudy, A, Jr., Colorado
Madison Waters, M, Fr., USC
Nikki Zaccaro, A, Sr., California

Lisella Named Defensive Player of the Year; Buffs Place Four on All-Pac-12 Teams

Players Mentioned

Sadie Grozier

Julia Lisella

Charlie Rudy

Kate White

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