WKU Volleyball seniors Alyssa Cavanaugh and Jessica Lucas have been announced as two of the 30 NCAA women’s volleyball student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award. 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.
“What a great honor for our entire WKU volleyball program to have two players on the list,” Travis Hudson shared. “It is truly a testament to the kind of student-athletes we have in our program. We take a lot of pride in how we represent our university.”
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.
Cavanaugh and Lucas have already combined for six AVCA All-America accolades with the Lady Toppers and account for two of 17 candidates with at least one All-America honor. The WKU duo has collected a multitude of awards during their time on The Hill including each earning Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year (Lucas 2016, Cavanaugh 2017). Cavanaugh was the 2016 C-USA Player of the Year while Lucas is the two-time defending C-USA Setter of the Year.
In addition to their successes on the court, Cavanaugh and Lucas are just involved in the classroom and community. Both student-athletes are heavily involved with the Hope 4 Harlie are Friends of Jaclyn Foundation while also racking up community service hours through WKU Athletics’ Hilltoppers with Heart campaign. Both WKU representatives have spent time on the Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll. Additionally, Lucas earned a spot on the C-USA All-Academic Team during her junior season.
WKU is one of just four teams to land multiple student-athletes on the candidate list of the prestigious award. Joining the Lady Toppers with two honorees are Wichita State, Washington and Penn State.
(Courtesy WKU Athletics)