Oct. 19, 2012
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Senior Ashley Frazier is among 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS award it was announced by the organization Friday morning. She is the first UK player in program history to earn recognition as one of the 10 finalists for the esteemed award.
Ten NCAA women’s volleyball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected as finalists for the 2012 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.
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.
The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 candidates announced in September. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner. Fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website (seniorCLASSaward.com) through Nov. 26. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner.
Frazier earned a 3.9 GPA with a Business Administration in Management and Marketing degree in May 2011. She has begun work on her MBA this fall. She is a four-time All-SEC Academic team member, a three-time athletic director’s honor roll honoree, a CoSIDA Academic All-District first team selection in 2011, and a three-time Dean’s List member.
Her career aspiration is to work in marketing for a professional sports team organization. She worked at IMG as an intern where she helped with sponsorship activation at men’s basketball games. She also helped put together year-in-review portfolios for sponsorships, helped with administrative duties in the office, and was able to be a part of marketing plan meetings following the UK men’s basketball national championship on ways to capitalize on that victory.
The Oregon, Ohio, native has worked a number of hours with various organizations since becoming a college athlete. She has helped out with animal shelters, nursing homes, children’s hospitals, God’s Pantry, homeless shelters and helped with an initiative that provided presents to underprivileged children during the Holiday Season.
Frazier became the 15th player in UK history to amass 1,000 career kills on Sept. 23. She currently leads the Wildcats in kills for the season and charted a career-high 20 at No. 1 Nebraska earlier this season.
She was a 2011 All-Region Tournament team selection, a two-time All-SEC team member and an SEC Player of the Week. She played two years at Alabama before transferring to Kentucky, where as a sophomore she had 20 kills against South Carolina en route to earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors as well as the and Collegiate Volleyball Update National Player of the Week.
The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship, which will take place Dec.13 and 15 in Louisville, Ky.
Volleyball Finalists
Alaina Bergsma, Oregon
Dana Cranston, Colorado State
Ashley Frazier, Kentucky
Altrese Hawkins, Memphis
Rachel Iaquaniello, Eastern Michigan
Rachael Kidder, UCLA
Rachel Krabacher, Dayton
Gina Mancuso, Nebraska
Sam Serley, UAB
Ariel Turner, Purdue
Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the UK volleyball team. For additional coverage of the volleyball squad be sure and check out CatScratchesBlog.com/volleyball.
