OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Valparaiso University senior libero Taylor Root (Jenison, Mich.) has been named a nominee for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award in volleyball.
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 Elementary Education major at Valparaiso, Root carries a 3.504 GPA. She is a three-time All-Horizon League honoree and holds the league’s career record for digs -- 2,017 coming into the 2012 season. Coming into the season, Root had been named the Horizon League’s Defensive Player of the Week eight times, the most of any player in League history.
Root started at libero in all 35 matches and 124 sets of her junior season in 2011, earning her Honorable Mention All-American accolades from the AVCA for the second year in a row. Root was also named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team and was named to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll for both the fall and spring semesters.
The Jenison, Mich.-native is the third Horizon League student-athlete to be nominated for a Senior CLASS award this fall, joining men's soccer nominees Peter McKeown (Loyola) and Kyle Zobeck (Valparaiso).
The candidate class for volleyball will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through 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 exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
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.
The 2012 candidate class includes 16 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans from last season. Twenty-four of the 30 candidates have maintained a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or better. One of the candidates was recognized by the College Sports Information Directors of America as a 2011 Capital One Academic All-American. The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship, which will take place December 13 and 15 in Louisville, Kentucky.
2012 Volleyball Senior CLASS Awards Candidates:
Lesli Akeo, Siena
Andrea Beck, Wake Forest
Alaina Bergsma, Oregon
Megan Bober, Creighton
Amy Braun, Northern Iowa
Danielle Carlson, Marquette
Karissa Cook, Stanford
Dana Cranston, Colorado State
Kasey Elswick, Tennessee-Martin
Ashley Frazier, Kentucky
Katie Fuller, Southern California
Krysta Gardner, Bethune-Cookman
Christiana Gray, Duke
Andrea Hannasch, San Diego State
Altrese Hawkins, Memphis
Rachel Iaquaniello, Eastern Michigan
Rachael Kidder, UCLA
Faimie Kingsley, Denver
Rachel Krabacher, Dayton
Alison Landwehr, Iowa State
Gina Mancuso, Nebraska
Lindsey Miller, Texas A&M
Jodi Purdy, Wyoming
Taylor Root, Valparaiso
Robin Rostratter, California
Sam Serley, UAB
Jamie Straube, Iowa State
Ariel Turner, Purdue
Kate Van Dyke, Georgia Southern
Breanne Van Every, Idaho State
