SIUE’s Torre among Senior CLASS Award nominees
SIUE volleyball standout Kristen Torre as named as one of the 30 national candidates Wednesday for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate 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.
“Kristen embodies our Cougar Volleyball Principles of Pride to the fullest,” said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. “She prides service over self in her leadership of others and support of the staff and program. Her integrity is unquestionably strong. Without a doubt, Kristen does the little things right when no one else is watching.”
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, 25 have grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher, including 16 who maintain above a 3.5. Six are returning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans, and 11 are members of teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.
Torre was named to the All-Tournament team at last week’s Cougar Classic. She leads the team with a .373 hitting percentage and 63 kills through six matches this season. She is poised to become the ninth player in school history to pass 1,000 career kills.
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 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in December.
Torre twin emerging as dual threat for West Florida
To say Kathryn Torre, the twin sister of SIUE’s Kristen Torre, made an impact in her first appearances for the University of West Florida Argonauts this past weekend would be a huge understatement. The redshirt junior was an offensive and defensive threat for West Florida in the team’s first four matches last weekend after redshirting last season. Torre averaged 2.36 kills per set at an astonishing .470 attacking percentage. She had 33 kills on 80 attempts with only two attack errors. She also led UWF in blocks (19) and blocks per set (1.36) over the weekend.
Kathryn Torre helped the Argonauts volleyball team reach the No. 25 ranking in the first American Volleyball Coaches Association DII Top 25 Coaches Poll of the season.
“It feels really good to finally be out on the court competing again,” Kathryn Torre said. “I’m excited to see how far this team can go and I’m happy to be a part of it. The redshirt year was a decision we made because it worked well with my degree plan (electrical engineering), and I got to develop my game for a year and get used to the system we run here at UWF. We have a lot of talent on this team and it’s exciting to be able to show the other teams in the nation what we’re made of.”
Shelton strong out of gate for McKendree
McKendree freshman Jayden Shelton, a 2015 Highland High School grad, helped the Bearct women’s cross country team race to a fourth-place finish out of 11 teams at the Washington University Early Bird Meet in St. Louis on Saturday morning.
Shelton had a solid debut after placing 22nd out of the 102 runners with a time of 16 minutes, 8 seconds in the 4-kilometer race, which is equivalent to 2 1/2 miles.
Washington University sophomore Emily Holtzclaw is one of Shelton’s best friends, and although Holtzclaw was not able to compete in the meet because of an injured knee, Shelton and Holtzclaw got to spend time together.
Shelton did compete against two former Highland Lady Bulldogs, Taylor Prusa and Jamie Hundsdorfer, who are currently competing at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Prusa, a freshman, came in 51st in 18:32 while Hundsdorfer, a senior, finished 60th at 20:00.
“I really enjoyed the race because it was the first time in a while I didn’t have any expectations to fill,” Shelton said. “I’m a new member of a new team and it felt good to just run and see where I ended up. Seeing some former teammates made my day because it’s always nice to have a piece of home when you’re in a whole new setting like this. I’m excited to see how our team does this year.”
Washington University senior Ellen Toennies, a Mater Dei grad, finished in third place overall with an impressive time of 15:04 to help pace the Bears to a second-place team finish. Toennies was only beaten by two of the 102 runners as she was slightly shaded by Southeast Missouri State’s Kaitlyn Shea (15:04) for second place and wound up 16 seconds behind meet-champion Sarah Bradley of Millikin University (14:48).
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