A list of 30 women’s Division I volleyball players has been narrowed down to 10 finalists for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award. The award is given out to one senior each season who “excels both on and off the court.”
From the official Senior CLASS Awards website:
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Of the 30 candidates, 27 have grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher, including 14 who maintain above a 3.5. Fifteen are returning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans, and nine are members of teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Outside of academics and athletics, all candidates also have been consistently involved in community service on their campus or in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in December.
The list of 30 was scaled to 10, featuring three players in the top five teams in the nation, including Nebraska’s Kadie Rolfzen and Minnesota is represented by twin sisters: Paige and Hannah Tapp.
Last year’s winner was Cassie Strickland of the University of Washington.
To vote for the winner of the Senior CLASS Award, click here.
2016 Senior CLASS Award Finalists
| Inky Ajanaku | Middle Blocker | Stanford University |
| Jazzmin Babers | Middle Blocker | Texas A&M |
| Amy Boswell | Middle Blocker | BYU |
| Katie Brand | Setter | Kansas State University |
| Claire Felix | Middle Blocker | UCLA |
| Kadie Rolfzen | Outside Hitter | Nebraska |
| Lauren Smith | Middle Blocker | Creighton |
| Hannah Tapp | Right Side Hitter/Middle Blocker | University of Minnesota |
| Paige Tapp | Middle Blocker | University of Minnesota |
| Taylor Whittingham | Libero | University of Southern California |
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