Laplante Named to Community of Champions

Oct. 30, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. - University of Oklahoma volleyball student-athlete Bridget Laplante (Tomball, Texas) has been honored by the Big 12 Conference as a member of the fall Chick-fil-a Community of Champions. One selection from each conference school was awarded. Members must maintain a grade point average of 3.00 or better, be involved in at least one community service program and demonstrate leadership and sportsmanship on and off the field or court.

"What an honor for Bridget," said Oklahoma head coach Santiago Restrepo. "She has been a tremendous part of the success experienced by our team in the past several seasons, and it's great to see her recognized for her all-around efforts. Bridget is a special student-athlete who brings character and integrity to go along with her athletic talent. It's great to see her recognized for that."

Laplante is averaging 1.76 kills and 3.44 digs per set in her senior season with the Sooners. Laplante is also one of the team's captains for 2009. She is actively involved with various projects around the Norman area, including serving as a volunteer for Race for the Cure, Special Olympics, the Oklahoma City Memorial Kids' Run and KinderCare. Laplante also reads to students at Kennedy Elementary School, referees for the area's home school volleyball league and participates in Safe Trick-or-Treat and the Rake-It-Up cleanup initiative.

In addition to her community work, Laplante is involved on the Oklahoma campus. A member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Laplante is also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Society of Women Engineers, Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and the Sigma Alpha Pi Leadership Society.

Laplante is a standout in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big 12 first team honors the past two seasons. She is also a Sooner Scholar and earned Academic All-District third team honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America in 2007. Laplante was named to the College of Engineering Dean's Honor Roll and Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll the past three seasons.