CLARION, Pa. – Julia Holden became Clarion volleyball’s first All-American in five years on Wednesday, with the senior outside hitter earning a spot on the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America Third Team.

(Photo courtesy of Clarion University Athletics)

She is one of only two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) athletes on the All-America list, with East Stroudsburg’s Trea-sure Ketter earning a spot on the Honorable Mention list.

In addition to her initial D2CCA All-Region honor, Holden was previously named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region team. Holden represents the first Golden Eagle on an All-American team since 2014. Libero Morgan Seybold was a D2CCA Third Team All-American that year, while setter Laura Subject earned Honorable Mention honors that year.

Holden earned her second straight First Team All-PSAC selection earlier this year, and finished off her career with perhaps her best season. She ranked as one of the top attackers not just in the conference but also the country, in 2019, finishing second in NCAA Division II with averages of 4.66 kills and 5.32 points per set. Her 489 total kills ranked first in the PSAC and sixth in the country at the start of the NCAA postseason.

Holden set the NCAA single-match high in 2019 with 31 kills in a four-set match, doing so against Fairmont State on Sept. 20, and Holden also had the second-highest single-match kills totals in a three-set (25 vs. Notre Dame College on Sept. 21) and a five-set (32 vs. East Stroudsburg on Sept. 27) match. Earlier this fall she was recognized as a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection for the first time in her career with a 3.77 GPA in Nursing.

Her accolades also rank among the best in a Clarion career as well. Holden finished her career with 1,439 career kills, the fifth-highest total in program history and just four kills behind the fourth-place holder. Her 489 total kills ranked sixth for a single-season in program history, and she is one of only two Golden Eagles to top 460 kills in multiple years. Holden wraps up her career with three straight all-conference selections, including a Third Team finish in 2017 and a First Team nod last year.