Jessica Vargas Class: RS Sophomore Hometown: Flagstaff, AZ High School: Sinagua HS Height: 5-9 Position: Guard Experience: 1V

Briefly...
Jessica Vargas begins her third season with the Lions... defensive specialist... will get opportunities to score...tenacious defender who will use her long arms to turn deflections into steals... should see more playing time as a sophomore and compete for a starting job.

At LMU...
2007-08...
Granted a medical redshirt after suffering a knee injury in December... named a National Scholar-Athlete... played in nine games and started in six of them... shot 51.8% from the floor while averaging 8.0 ppg... averaged 4.6 rpg and had 13 assists and six steals... stepped into starting role after two games and responded by setting back-to-back career-highs against Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara... scored 17 points with seven rebounds on 6-for-9 shooting vs. UCSB... had 11 points and seven rebounds (five offensive), shooting 5-for-6 at LBSU... had nine points and two steals at #12 Cal... had eight points, six rebounds, and three assists vs. Jackson State... posted six points and five assists vs. Indiana State... scored five points in return to hometown vs. NAU... came off the bench in LMU's first two games, averaging 6.0 ppg and 3.0 rpg... scored seven points with five rebounds at UNLV... had five points and two assists at Boise State... had four points and six rebounds off the bench vs. Fresno State... suffered a knee injury against Fresno State and missed the rest of the season...

2006-07...
Contributed off the bench during her freshman campaign, appearing in 22 games... showed an ability to get to the line, shooting 81.3% once there... shot 38.7% from the floor... averaged 1.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game... showed defensive ability with 14 steals and five blocked shots... scored a basket against Stanford in her first career game... also added an assist in four minutes of action... appeared against Xavier... grabbed three rebounds and scored two points in three minutes of action against Long Beach State... played a season-high 11 minutes against Texas A&M, recording three steals, three rebounds, and adding a block... scored four points in four minutes against Pepperdine... played 20 minutes in the win over Santa Clara... the speedy guard was active on defense, helping the Lions shut down the nation's top three-point shooting team... had a career night played a then-career-high 25 minutes, scoring a career-high six points with a career-high five rebounds in the win over San Francisco... was a defensive spark in the second half of conference while appearing in the last 10 games of the regular season... played a career-high 26 minutes at Saint Mary's, scoring three points, grabbing five rebounds (four offensive) with three assists... almost doubled her season averages with 3.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per game over the season's last seven games... Director's List Fall 2006... Dean's List Spring 2007...

High School...
A 2006 graduate of Sinagua High School in Flagstaff, AZ... a four year letterwinner under coach Jennifer Parker... a two-time All-State honoree... two-time Grand Canyon Region Player of the Year... a four-time All-City selection and three-time All-Grand Canyon Conference award winner... the City Player of the Year as a senior after averaging 12.4 points, 5.7 assists, 7.5 steals and 5.1 rebounds per game... a McDonald's All-American nominee... tied the Arizona state record for steals in a single game with 17... shares the record with former LMU star Rosa Bernasconi... holds her high school's career steals record... as a junior, she averaged 11.0 points, 7.4 steals, 4.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game after leading her team to a regional championship... high school team MVP for two years... also a four year letterwinner in volleyball, leading her team to a second place finish in the state... named the Grand Canyon Region MVP and All-City Player of the Year as a senior... a three-time All-State and All-Conference selection in volleyball...

Personal...
Jessica Renae Vargas was born on August 27, 1988 in Flagstaff, AZ... daughter of Angela and Steve Vargas... has a younger brother, Marcus... recruited by Portland, Harvard and Boise State... a member of the National Honor Society and the recipient of the Scholar-Athlete award... also won the University of Rochester Award in Humanities and Social Sciences... was a National Hispanic Recognition Scholar... a biochemistry and Spanish major.