Sept. 21, 2012

Complete Candidate List

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - USC senior Katie Fuller was one of 30 NCAA women's volleyball student-athletes named as a candidate for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award on Thursday, Sept. 20. The award honors players that excel both on and off the court. To be eligible, 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.

A communication major, Fuller has earned many academic honors including USC athletic department Student-Athlete of the Month, USC Credit Union Student Athlete of the month, and 2011 Academic All-Pac-12 honorable mention. She was instrumental in organizing her team to help the underprivileged students at Hoover Elementary School, as well as helping with the Movember movement that serves to promote men's health. Fuller has interned with ESPNHS and helped organize large-scale events including the Elite 11 Camps. On the court, Fuller helped lead her team to consecutive NCAA semifinal appearances in 2010 and 2011. She ranked second on the team with 2.83 kills per set as a junior. In 2011, she received AVCA All-Pacific Region honorable mention and was a Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention player.

The fourth-year USC opposite from Olivenhain, Calif., is joined by four other candidates from the Pac-12 conference including Oregon outside hitter Alaina Bergsma, Stanford setter Karissa Cook, UCLA outside hitter Rachael Kidder, and California libero Robin Rostratter.

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.

The candidate class 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.