Henry Clay's volleyball team earns academic award
Contact: Lisa Deffendall • First Posted: Thursday, July 31, 2008
The girls’ volleyball team at Henry Clay High School has earned the AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2007-2008 season. The school received a plaque and a certificate for each player.
Henry Clay, coached by Dale Grupe, is the only Kentucky team among the 141 high school winners. This is the seventh consecutive year that Henry Clay has received this honor from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
“It was a team that competed hard for their grades in the classroom and as a team on the court,” said Grupe, who is starting his 11th year at Henry Clay this fall. ”This team ended up being the top-ranked public school in the state,” he added.
The roster included seniors Haley Buchanan, Emily Duncan, Erin Grupe and Gwen Rucker; juniors Annalee Abell, Megan Looff, Rachel Looff, Mackenzie Newby, Jennifer O’Brien, Sarah Stromberg and Elizabeth Summerlin; sophomores Shelley Besten and Greta Workman; and freshmen Maddie Hatcher and Mikayla Reese.
The American Volleyball Coaches Association, which is based in Lexington, honors collegiate and high school teams that maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale. Coaches nominating teams must be AVCA members. Got to www.avca.org for more details.