** During the month of July, EIUPanthers.com will take a look back at 14 events, moments and players that helped shape the 2023-24 academic year. **

Giovana Larregui López was dominant on both the court and in the classroom during the 2023-24 school year as she was named the Ohio Valley Conference Female Athlete of the Year.
 
López earned her second-straight OVC Player of the Year honor in 2023 while helping Eastern Illinois to a 28-5 overall record and 15-3 OVC mark. EIU won both the OVC regular season championship and the OVC Tournament Title, its first tournament crown since 2001.

During the season López ranked fourth in the NCAA in service aces (67), 29th in points scored (556.5) and 34th in total kills (468). Those numbers helped her earn AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors for the second-straight season. López was named OVC Player of the Week four times during the year and was named to the OVC All-Tournament Team. She also earned third-team Academic All-American honors for her work in the classroom.

She helped guide EIU to its best start in school history (10-0) which included a win over SEC member Missouri in which she had 15 kills. She finished the season with 15 double-doubles and had six matches with 20 or more kills. López set the school single match record for kills and was third in single match service aces. Her offensive numbers for the year ranked in the EIU single-season top five all-time for service aces, kills and points.

López is the third-straight and fifth overall Eastern Illinois student-athlete to be named OVC Female Athlete of the Year, joining volleyball player Erica Gerth (2004-05), track and field athlete Kandace Arnold (2009-10), distance runner Lindsey Carlson (2021-22) and softball player Olivia Price (2022-23).