Kate Bellissimo built her Stanford lacrosse career on defense, with her biggest leap coming in 2026. After sitting out her first two Stanford seasons, she earned regular playing time in 2024, took on a bigger role in 2025, and developed into a key defensive contributor.
Her final season brought a single-game program record, national All-America recognition, selection among the Tewaaraton Award’s 25 women’s nominees, and several high positions in Stanford’s record book. Beyond the lacrosse field, Bellissimo pursued Design at Stanford and worked on projects involving UX research, accessibility, and product development.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Katelyn Margaret Bellissimo |
| Hometown | Darien, Connecticut |
| Stanford position | Defender |
| Major | Design |
| 2026 statistics | 53 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers |
| Career caused turnovers | 67, ranking 10th in Stanford history |
| Major 2026 recognition | USA Lacrosse First-Team All-American |
| Tewaaraton recognition | One of 25 women’s nominees in 2026 |
Kate Bellissimo’s Path Into Stanford’s Defensive Lineup
Bellissimo arrived at Stanford after a multi-sport career at Darien High School in Connecticut. She earned four lacrosse letters there and captained the team in both 2020 and 2021. Her high school record also included a Connecticut state championship in 2019 and a state-final appearance in 2018.
Lacrosse was not her only sport. Stanford’s records show that she also played four years of soccer and ice hockey before graduating from Darien High School in 2021.
Her college career did not begin with immediate playing time. Bellissimo did not compete for Stanford in either 2022 or 2023. The university’s records do not explain those two seasons, so her competitive development is best traced from 2024 onward.
That year marked her first regular role with the Cardinal. She appeared in all 18 games and finished with 16 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers. It was the start of the defensive production that would later become a defining part of her Stanford career.
Her Expanded Responsibilities Throughout the 2025 Season
Bellissimo continued to take on a larger role in 2025. She played in 12 games and started four, recording 19 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers.
Her season also brought recognition beyond basic statistics. She was selected to the ACC All-Tournament Team, and her academic work earned her a spot on both the All-ACC Academic Team and the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll.
Those 2025 results bridged her first full season of competition and the much larger role she would hold a year later.
The Duke Performance That Set a Stanford Record
One of the defining performances of Bellissimo’s college career came on March 8, 2026, when Stanford defeated Duke 11–10.
Bellissimo recorded eight caused turnovers, setting a new Stanford single-game record. The previous record was five, set by Emily Rodriguez in 2000. Bellissimo also collected seven ground balls against Duke.
The performance came as part of a productive stretch against Virginia Tech and Duke. Across the two games, she totaled 10 caused turnovers and 11 ground balls.
Two days later, on March 10, 2026, the ACC named her Defensive Player of the Week. It was an early sign that her final Stanford season was developing into something significantly different from her earlier years.
Why 2026 Became Her Breakthrough Season
Bellissimo started all 22 games for Stanford in 2026 and finished with career highs of 53 ground balls and 34 caused turnovers.
Those totals placed her prominently in Stanford’s single-season record book. Her 53 ground balls tied for sixth in program history, while her 34 caused turnovers ranked fourth.
Her rise came during a landmark season for Stanford. The Cardinal finished 17–5, setting a program record for victories, and reached the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time.
Stanford’s season ended on May 14 with a 14–11 quarterfinal loss to North Carolina, but Bellissimo had already established career-best production over the course of the campaign.
How National Recognition Followed Her Defensive Rise
Bellissimo’s 2026 performance brought recognition at the conference and national level.
On March 26, 2026, she was added to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List. Less than a month later, on April 16, she was included among the 25 women’s nominees. She did not advance to the group of five finalists, but reaching the Top 25 placed her among a nationally recognized group of college players.
Another 2026 ACC defender, Sam Forrest, also earned national All-America recognition and appeared among the Tewaaraton Top 25 nominees.
ACC coaches also selected her to the 2026 All-ACC Second Team as a defender.
Her All-America honors came from several organizations, with different selectors placing her on different teams. USA Lacrosse named Bellissimo a Division I First-Team All-American, while Stanford reported that ILWomen/Nike Media also selected her for its First Team.
The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association gave her All-West/Midwest First-Team honors and selected her as a Division I Second-Team All-American.
These honors came from separate organizations, each using its own All-America selection process. Bellissimo received first-team recognition from USA Lacrosse and ILWomen/Nike Media, while the IWLCA placed her on its second team.
Where Bellissimo Finished in Stanford’s Record Book
Bellissimo ended her Stanford career with 67 caused turnovers, which ranked 10th in program history.
Her final season accounted for more than half of that career total. Her 34 caused turnovers in 2026 ranked fourth on Stanford’s single-season list.
She also finished 2026 with 53 ground balls, tied for sixth in a single Stanford season.
Her eight caused turnovers against Duke remained another notable entry in the school record book as the program’s single-game high.
Earlier reports from different points in the 2026 season naturally listed lower totals for her caused turnovers because the year was still in progress. Stanford’s finalized records give 34 caused turnovers for the season and 67 for her career.
Her Work in Design and Accessibility Beyond Lacrosse
Bellissimo’s Stanford experience also included work outside athletics. She studied Design, and her public portfolio describes interests in UX/UI design, UX research, accessibility, healthcare, fintech, prototyping, product marketing, and entrepreneurship.
In her own portfolio, Bellissimo describes working with SoFi’s UX Research and Design team on accessibility issues involving screen-reader use. She says the project included reviewing 929 interface elements across 12 product funnels, interviewing screen-reader users, developing recommendations, and presenting the findings to more than 60 colleagues.
She has also written about what she learned from that work, including the importance of understanding users before making design decisions, working across research, design, and engineering teams, and presenting technical findings clearly.
Her Stanford design work included a senior capstone project called the Halo ThermaPatch. Bellissimo’s portfolio describes it as an early-stage wearable prototype using temperature sensing to explore possible wound-infection detection. The project used a MAX30205 sensor and an Arduino UNO R3 and remained at the prototype or proof-of-concept stage.
Her academic record also included Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll recognition in 2023 and 2024, IWLCA Academic Honor Roll honors in 2025 and 2026, and All-ACC Academic Team selections in 2025 and 2026.
Bellissimo therefore finished her Stanford years with a documented record in two areas: a defensive lacrosse career that culminated in national recognition and program records, and design work focused on user experience, accessibility, and product development.