University of Mississippi student-athlete and Irmo native Ty Laporte died early Friday morning in a car crash, according to a press release from the university. Mississippi Highway Patrol confirmed that Laporte died at the scene of the accident in Holly Springs, Mississippi, following a collision with a Freightliner truck.
Laporte, 23, played volleyball and competed in the high jump for Ole Miss and was a graduate of Dutch Fork High School.
She was a fourth-year integrated marketing communications student who made the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2014 and 2015. On the court, she was third all-time in block assists, third all-time in total blocks and fifth all-time in kills. On the track team, she was ninth all-time in the outdoor high jump.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement on behalf of the conference.
"To lose a young person so early in life is tragic and we are saddened to lose a special member of the SEC family," Sankey said. "As a member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll, Ty Laporte represented Ole Miss and the SEC with excellence both on the court and in the classroom. The SEC extends it sympathies to her family, her teammates and coaches as well as her classmates and the entire University of Mississippi community."