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Volleyball Top 10 finalists for Senior CLASS Award Announced
Hawkins, Serley Finalist

	UAB's Sam Serley

Oct. 19, 2012

IRVING, Texas - Altrese Hawkins of Memphis and UAB's Sam Serley have been named Top 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award for volleyball.

The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website (seniorCLASSaward.com ) through Nov. 26.

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.

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.

Hawkins leads the Tigers with 328 kills this season, and her 3.77 kills per set average ranks fifth in Conference USA. She currently ranks second in school history with 1,678 career kills. This season, Hawkins also ranks second on the team with 229 digs and has recorded 13 double-doubles.

In the classroom, Hawkins, a Schaumburg, Ill., native has been the definition of a student-athlete as she is majoring in Chemistry, Biology and Psychology. She also has Spanish minor. Even with three majors, Hawkins has a grade point average of 3.50. Named to the Dean's List five times, Hawkins has had a semester GPA over 3.0 seven times, including a perfect 4.0 in the 2009 spring semester. Hawkins has been on the Conference USA (C-USA) Commissioners Honor Roll all four years and earned the C-USA Commissioners Academic Medal twice (2008-09 and 2009-10). She was named to the C-USA's All-Academic Team in 2010 and 2011, and is on pace to graduate in May of 2013. She plans to attend medical school.

Hawkins is active in the community in many different ways. She has volunteered at many hospitals and has worked on numerous community service projects. Hawkins has mentored junior high girls, and she tutored elementary children. Hawkins also helps promote health awareness for numerous issues, including heart disease, obesity, asthma and autism. She is a member of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which also helps her get into the community and help others. While attend C-USA SAAC conference in Dallas as Memphis' representative, she volunteered at the Children's Hospital in the Oncology Department.

Serley has been the definition of a leader by example for the Blazers, maintaining a 3.75 grade point average as a health care management major and accounting minor. The two-time All-Conference USA Academic Team selection, has been involved with multiple charitable groups and was named the league's Spirit of Service recipient last fall.

On the court, Serley has reached some impressive milestones in her final year wearing the Green and Gold. She recently became just the ninth player in C-USA history to surpass 500 career blocks and also reached 1,000 kills earlier this season.

The Nashville, Tenn., native currently ranks in the top five in school history in multiple categories and currently leads C-USA in hitting percentage (.379) and blocks per set (1.37).

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, which will take place December 13 and 15 in Louisville, Ky.

For more information on the finalists, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

Volleyball Finalists
Alaina Bergsma, Oregon
Dana Cranston, Colorado State
Ashley Frazier, Kentucky
Altrese Hawkins, Memphis
Rachel Iaquaniello, Eastern Michigan
Rachael Kidder, UCLA
Rachel Krabacher, Dayton
Gina Mancuso, Nebraska
Sam Serley, UAB
Ariel Turner, Purdue