WALTHAM, Mass. – Three members of Brandeis University athletic teams have earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). Senior Francesca Marchese of Staten Island, New York, and Ryan Power of Waltham, Massachusetts, were honored for basketball earlier this week, while sophomore Lara Verstovsek of Houston, Texas, was recognized for volleyball last fall.
Marchese will graduate as one of the top 3-point shooters in Brandeis women's basketball history. She has played in every game of her three seasons, starting for the past two years. In 2022-23, she ranks fifth in the University Athletic Association in 3-pointers with 43. She is Brandeis's all-time leader in 3-pointers per game, averaging 1.78 per game. Marchese's 130 3-pointers are fourth in school history despite not having a sophomore season due to COVID-19. She is one of only three players in Brandeis history with three seasons of 40 or more 3s, having finished with 44 as a junior and 43 as a first-year. She has one more game to go this weekend against NYU.
Off the court, Marchese owns a 3.71 GPA as a business and psychology double major. She is a six-time Dean's List student and a three-time Academic All-UAA team member. Marchese served on the Student Union Executive Board as a director of media outreach as a junior, and last summer she interned at Richmond Civil Court in Staten Island.
Power leads the Judges in assists with 57 (10th most in the UAA) and is tied for second in steals with 21. He is fifth on the team in points per game with 7.6 and in shooting percentage at 45.9 percent from the field. Power has played in all but one game this season, starting 22 times. He has scored in double figures nine times, including an 18-point performance in an 81-79 overtime win over Emmanuel on Nov. 16, when he played a career-high 42 minutes.
Off the court, Power has a 3.83 grade-point average as a Health: Science, Society, and Policy major. He is a five-time Dean's List student and two-time Academic All-UAA selection who earned a Stroum Family Scholarship for students from Waltham who attend Brandeis.
Verstovsek was honored last fall after an outstanding sophomore campaign. After earning All-UAA honors as a first-year, she was an All-Region selection and honorable mention All-American from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She led the Judges and finished 3rd in UAA in kills per set, averaging 3.40 kps, the 10th-best single-season kills average in Brandeis history. She also led the team in points (4.01 pps), just the season in school history over four points per set.
A psychology major with a 3.62 GPA, Verstovsek is a two-time Dean's List member who interned at the Stanford University Parenting Center last summer.
Marchese and Power will now be eligible for College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors for basketball, which will be announced in mid-March. The Division IIII CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-23 Division III Academic All-America® programs.
Marchese is a 2019 graduate of Staten Island Academy.
Power is a 2020 graduate of Waltham High School.
Verstovsek is a 2021 graduate of Episcopal High School.
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For more information on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America program, visit academicallamerica.com.