Danielle Scott-Arruda

Danielle Racquel Scott-Arruda (born October 1, 1972) is an American former volleyball player. She played at the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and the 2012 Summer Olympics, breaking a U.S. female volleyball athlete record for Olympic appearances.

For her lifetime achievements in the sport, Scott-Arruda was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016.

High school
Scott-Arruda was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She attended Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge, where she was an All-State athlete in volleyball and basketball.

College
Scott-Arruda played volleyball for Long Beach State. In 1991, she helped Long Beach State to the NCAA Championship match. In 1992, she was the Big West Conference Player of the Year and helped Long Beach State to the NCAA semifinals. In 1993, Scott-Arruda led the 49ers to the NCAA National Championship. She was American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Northwest Region and the Big West Conference Player of the Year, as she led the nation in hitting percentage. She was also the National Player of the Year. In 1994, she won the Honda-Broderick Award (now the Honda Sports Award) as the nation's best female collegiate volleyball player.

In Scott-Arruda's collegiate career, she posted 1,778 kills, 693 digs, and 604 blocks in volleyball. She was a three-time AVCA All-American. She also earned All-Big West honors in basketball, becoming the first Big West student-athlete to earn all-conference accolades in two sports in one season.

In 1999, Scott-Arruda was inducted into the Long Beach State Hall of Fame.

International competition
In her first major international competition, Scott-Arruda won a silver medal at the 1994 Goodwill Games in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In her career, she played in over 420 matches and won numerous medals, including silver medals at the 2002 FIVB World Championship in Germany, the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom.

Scott-Arruda carried the flag for the United States at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.



Sports Diplomacy
In 2019, Scott-Arruda visited Fiji as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. State Department's Sports Diplomacy Office.

Personal life
Scott-Arruda's parents are Charles Young and Vera Scott. She has one brother, Charles, and one sister, Stefanie. She was married to Eduardo Arruda, a former member of the Brazilian national team and they have a daughter Juliánné Arruda who is now 14 as of 2024. She learned to speak Portuguese fluently while living in Brazil.

Individual awards

 * Three-time AVCA All-American
 * 1994 Honda-Broderick Award
 * 1999 Long Beach State Hall of Fame
 * 2000 Summer Olympics "Best Blocker"
 * 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix "Most Valuable Player"
 * 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best Scorer"
 * 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best Blocker"
 * 2002 World Championship "Best Blocker"
 * 2009 Pan-American Cup "Best Blocker"
 * 2016 International Volleyball Hall of Fame