OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Sept. 10, 2014) – Thirty NCAA women’s volleyball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award, and ETSU middle blocker Meredith Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.) was one of the players to join the prestigious group.

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, 23 have grade point averages of 3.0 or higher, including 15 with GPAs of 3.5 or higher. There are five returning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans, and 10 are members of teams ranked in the AVCA top 25 coaches preseason poll.

The 30 candidates 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 exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in December.

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.

Click here to view Hardy’s Senior CLASS profile.

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