Eastern Illinois University Athletics

HIGH SCHOOL ... Played varsity volleyball, basketball and softball for coaches Billy Bixby and Roland Preciado at Kennedy HS in La Palma, California, which sits practically in the shadow of Disneyland ... a two-time First Team league honoree as both a junior and senior, she was twice named the team MVP following each campaign... also nabbed all-tourney kudos... prior to that, she earned the Most Improved Award as a sophomore while earning Second Team conference recognition... earned additional all-tourney honors in basketball while also selected as the Offensive 'Player of the Year' as both a sophomore and junior in the sport of softball... tallied the school's 'Athlete of the Month' honor while being named the most athletic member of her senior class... she also saw action on the soccer field ... team-wise, Kennedy HS advanced to the first round of the CIF tourney in 2010, while her basketball unit advanced to the second round in 2012... in the classroom she tallied 2012 scholar-athlete accolades 

PERSONAL ... A couple of her relatives -- Ryan Sypkens (UC Davis) and Garrett Brown (Mira Costa College) -- have also played collegiate sports ... her No. 1 sports highlight was "winning the state championship in all-net basketball in sixth grade"... credits her family for having the biggest influence on her sports career, "because no matter what sport it was, they were always there to support me"... played club volleyball on the TCA Huntington Beach squad.

OFF THE COURT WITH LEXI ... 'Down Town Lexi Brown' or 'The Hammer' plans to major in communications... daughter of Cari Parrish... born on May 18... chose EIU, "because I liked the small town... and everyone seemed very welcoming"... feels some of EIU's advantages include "being a small college town where everyone supports EIU... the class sizes are small so you can get more out of the teaching and build better relationships with the staff and students"... also enjoys playing softball, running, surfing, hiking and going to the beach... currently driving a 1996 Jeep Cherokee... enjoys eating pasta and tacos, but dislikes any type of seafood... she can't go anywhere without her phone... her best vacation memory was "when my friend took me to Hawai'i for my birthday"... her family owns a pair of cats named 'Rascal' and 'Tiger'.