Feb. 23, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky assistant coach Lindsey Gray was tabbed as one of the 30 best coaches under the age of 30 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association it was announced on Thursday.
The award was created in 2009 to honor up-and-coming coaching talent at all levels of the sport. To qualify for the award nominees had to be 30 years old or younger in 2011. The list of winners will be featured in the upcoming March edition of Coaching Volleyball 2.0.
“I love this award,” said AVCA Executive Director, Kathy DeBoer, “And even more, I love how our membership has embraced this award. The number of nominees now ranks in the hundreds, and they are coming from all parts of our membership, bright, hard-working, passionate, talented young volleyball coaches!”
Of the thirty recipients, 19 are head coaches and 11 are assistant coaches. Ten are NCAA Division I women’s coaches, four coach NAIA squads, four are NCAA Division III and another four for high school. There are also three NCAA Division II recipients along with three Club coaches and two Two-Year College coaches.
“Lindsey is one of the great young women coming up in college volleyball,” UK head coach Craig Skinner said. “Since arriving here in the spring of 2010 she has been a great asset to the program and has a great future in this sport. She continues to be a fantastic role model for our student-athletes.”
Gray is in her third season as an assistant coach and also serves as UK’s recruiting coordinator. The Wildcats have advanced to two NCAA Tournaments with her on the staff.
Kentucky’s 2011 season was one to remember as the Blue and White marched all the way to the NCAA Regionals on its home floor and played before a record-breaking crowd. UK had a record-breaking three players earn All-America honors and the Wildcats also garnered a school-best five All-Southeastern Conference selections.
Gray has helped the Wildcats haul in a highly regarded recruiting class for the 2012 season, while also bringing in Lauren O’Conner and Jackie Napper in 2011 both of whom were starters for the Wildcats in their first collegiate seasons.
Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the UK volleyball team and all of Kentucky’s 22 teams.
