AUSTIN, Texas - Elli Kluegel has become the first player in Loyola University Maryland women's lacrosse history to be named to a CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team twice, being selected to the at-large first team, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
The Academic All-America teams honor the nation's top student-athletes for their combined academic and athletic accomplishments. Kluegel was one of 48 female student-athletes from the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, water polo and wrestling to be named to one of the three At-Large teams, while she was one nine repeat honorees, one of 15 to garner a first-team nod and one of 22 to maintain a perfect 4.0 throughout their careers.
 
The Fairfax, Virginia native joins Colleen Anderson '91 and Erika Schaub '96 as the only Greyhounds women's lacrosse players who were named CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. She's also the 17th student-athlete in Loyola history to earn Academic All-America honors in any sport and just the fifth to be a two-time honoree.
 
A two-time Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women's lacrosse and the 2021 Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for all sports, Kluegel concluded her career as a four-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and a CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team honoree in 2021. The two-time All-Patriot League performer was also the lone Loyola student-athlete to graduate with a perfect 4.0 in 2021, earning a degree in biology with an innovation and entrepreneurship minor. She then maintained her perfect GPA through her graduate program in emerging media.
 
Kluegel was named to the Loyola Dean's List every semester of her undergraduate career and was a Presidential Scholarship recipient. She was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit, Phi Beta Kappa and Chi Alpha Sigma honor societies and earned three-straight Patriot League All-Academic Team honors throughout her career. She was also a member of Loyola's Leadership Academy, she was the secretary for Omicron Delta Kappa – Loyola's chapter of the National Leadership Honor Society – and was a BioNavigators Ambassador – an organization aimed at introducing college students to the wide variety of career paths related to STEM.
 
A three-time team captain, Kluegel concluded her career ranked 12th on Loyola's career record for goals scored, with 156. She also assisted 23 others for 182 career points, while she added 80 ground balls, 15 draw controls and 41 caused turnovers in 83 games played.