Aug 28, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the third time in four years, the Kentucky volleyball program has a player among the final 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS award, as senior Jessi Greenberg was honored by the organization on Wednesday.
Thirty NCAA women’s volleyball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court were selected today as candidates for the 2013 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.
Of the 30 candidates, 10 have grade point averages of 3.5 or higher, including Greenberg. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in December.
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.
Greenberg has compiled more than 100 hours of community service throughout her tenure in the Blue and White. Her work includes spending the summer of 2013 as a volunteer at the Salvation Army’s Boys and Girls club. She spent five hours a day with the children approximately 3-4 days a week. Furthermore, she has given her time to other various projects such as the Hope Lodge, the Salvation Army and with a local church, Southland. An active volunteer with the local schools in Lexington, Greenberg has offered time for events ranging from Read Across America, neighborhood volunteer for after school programs, walk-a-child to school day or assisting with cross country practices. She’s spent every summer since she began as a freshman being a leading camp counselor at UK’s prestigious volleyball camps including all-skills, individual position camps, team camps and middle school camps. Greenberg also offers her time helping coach local youth clubs. Additionally, she was a lead organizer to promote coach John Calipari’s votes for the Charity challenge sponsored by ESPN. For her efforts, she earned SEC Community Service team accolades during her junior season.
Greenberg is an exceptional student with a 3.900 grade point average as a dual-major. She is working towards degrees in both marketing and integrated strategic communication. She is expected to graduate a semester early, with a graduation date of December 2013. She has been named to the SEC Academic Honor roll in all three years as a student at UK. Greenberg has hauled in dean’s list accolades during every semester of her tenure in addition to the Athletic Director’s honor roll. She is a member of two academic honor societies including Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Kappa Phi. Greenberg has also earned the President’s Academic Scholarship from UK. Upon completing her degrees in December, Greenberg’s professional goal includes working with either marketing or communications for a professional sports organization.
The Melbourne, Fla., native embodies all that is asked for student-athletes with her character, work ethic and integrity. Not only is she an outstanding student, an active volunteer in the community, a tireless player on the court, but she is constantly trying to expand her talents through various volunteer projects and internships. Greenberg has served as the Student Athletic Advisory Committee representative for the Wildcats in both her junior and senior seasons. Her various internships include working with the University of Kentucky media relations department in the summer of 2013 as well as the school’s official blog, Cat Scratches, where she has had several stories published. In the spring of 2013, Greenberg served as a volunteer at the Cincinnati Bengals Draft Day Party where she was tasked with photo opportunities, raffles and managing player autographs. Also, during the Spring of 2013, she interned at IMG Sports Network. She worked directly with social media marketing, gameday operations for the Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball home games, and she worked as a blog contributor for CoachCal.com. During the summer of 2012, she interned at the American Volleyball Coaches Association working directly with social media, marketing, copy editing, blog writing and data input. Her first internship was with Career Athletes. She helped strengthen relationships between the Career Athletes professional network and student-athletes.
On the court, she has been a vital part of UK’s past three seasons in which UK has totaled more than 65 victories including 40 SEC wins, advanced to back-to-back Sweet 16s and earned NCAA Tournament berths in all three years. She has seen action in 73 matches and appeared in more than 240 sets. She has logged 380 career digs for an average of 1.57 digs per set as UK’s defensive specialist. Additionally, she has notched more than 25 career assists. She has posted more than 10 career matches with 10 or more scoops, including a career-high of 17 in a win over South Carolina as a sophomore.
Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the Kentucky volleyball team and all 22 varsity sports.
