AVCA Names Player of the Year Semifinalists – Stanford Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. – Outside hitter Elia Rubin has been named a semifinalist for the 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I Player of the Year Award, presented by Nike Volleyball.

The players on the list are being revealed November 6-7 in two groups of seven. There is no order to which list the players are on, except that all a school’s candidates will appear the same day.

Rubin, an AVCA First Team All-American and All-ACC performer in 2024, leads the team with 3.26 kills on .291 hitting, 0.39 aces and 3.92 points per set. The Santa Monica native also paces the Cardinal with seven double-doubles this season. She is currently tied for fourth on Stanford’s career aces list with 135. In the rally-scoring era to 25, Rubin is one ace from tying Jenna Gray (2016-19) for the school record.

The semifinalist list was compiled by the AVCA Division I Women’s Volleyball Awards Committee. They will also be the group working on the additional phases of the Player of the Year process, which include:

• Revealing the finalists (Dec. 15)
• The announcement of the Player of the at the AVCA Awards Banquet in Kansas City on Friday Dec. 19
  NOTE: Players who aren’t semifinalists can still be added as finalists next month.

Stanford is tied for first in the ACC standings with No. 3 Pittsburgh. The Cardinal will play six of its final eight regular season matches at home, beginning Friday with No. 15 North Carolina.