Southeastern Oklahoma State University Athletics

Olivia Franceskini was a volleyball standout for Southeastern Oklahoma State from 2003-2006 during which time she became the program’s first All-American and rewrote the Savage Storm volleyball record book.
 
The Zadar, Croatia, native becomes the first true international student-athlete to earn membership in Southeastern’s Athletic Hall of Fame as well as being the first representative for volleyball in its modern incarnation.
 
As a redshirt freshman in 2003 she turned in what was at the time the third best single season kills mark in the program’s history, posting 417 kills and averaging 3.42 kills per set.  Her 526.0 points on the year was the second highest point total in SE history at that time.  This remarkable season earned her Lone Star Conference North Division Freshman of the Year honors.
 
Despite missing time due to injury as a sophomore in 2004 she still posted a team-best 288 kills that season, averaging 3.56 kills per set.
 
As a junior Franceskini enjoyed her best season, setting the record for kills in a season with 650, averaging 5.04 kills per set as well as turning in 50 service aces, 479 digs and 56 blocks.  In addition, her performances lifted the team to a 19-16 record, which was the most wins for the program at that time.
 
That season she would earn the first of her back-to-back Lone Star Conference North Division Player of the Year honors, and ultimately become Southeastern’s first All-American in volleyball.
 
She paced the LSC in kills and was 13th in the nation in kills that season in addition to being the first SE volleyball player to earn that caliber of recognition, only the fourth player in the LSC to do so well.
 
As a senior she helped the team to its second-straight 19 win season and featured an SE best 10-match winning streak. Franceskini added 535 kills, averaging 4.57 kills per set, with 51 aces, 422 digs and 58 blocks en route to her second-straight LSC-N Player of the Year honor.
 
On her career she set the record with 1,890 kills and an average of 4.21 kills per set over four seasons.  She also took the most attack attempts in school history and recorded a school record 300 service aces and is fourth on the school’s digs list with 1,291 digs.
 
Franceskini, through efforts on the court, excelled to a level that brings great honor to Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  The University honored her with membership in the Southeastern Oklahoma State Athletics Hall of Fame on August 23, 2014.