Publication Date: Friday, January 14, 2005
Volleyball honor for Nnamani
Volleyball honor for Nnamani
(January 14, 2005) Stanford star is top player in the nation
by Rick Eymer
Ogonna Nnamani may have to expand her trophy case pretty soon. The Stanford senior was voted the nation's top collegiate female volleyball player by the Collegiate Women Sports Award.
The honor is based on voting among NCAA member schools and puts her in line for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year honors. Stanford grad Tara Kirk, an 11-time NCAA swimming champion, won the award last year.
Amber Liu was the tennis recipient, and gymnast Lindsay Wing, cross country runner Sara Bei and basketball player Nicole Powell were among the nominees.
Nnamani was named the Co-National Player of the Year after helping Stanford win the NCAA title last month.
The CWS award guarantees Nnamani the Honda Award for volleyball. Candidates for the Honda Award, presented in New York City in June, are selected not only for their superior athletic skills, but also for their leadership abilities, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.
Nnamani was also a Honda Award nominee last year. This year she became the Pac-10's career leader in kills. She also set a NCAA tournament record with 62 kills in the Final Four.
Women's tennis
Top-ranked Stanford opens its spring season this weekend at the Pac-10 Indoors in Seattle, and at the Freeman Invitational in Las Vegas.
Alice Barnes, Erin Burdette, Kara Guzman and Anne Yelsey are scheduled to compete in the Pac-10 Indoor Championships.
Theresa Logar heads to Las Vegas to defend her title, and will be joined by Cardinal teammates Joanna Kao, Whitney Deason and Pinewood grad Lejla Hodzic.
Men's tennis
Seventh-ranked Stanford will compete in the Sherwood Cup in Thousand Oaks beginning Friday.
Senior Sam Warburg is ranked fourth among singles players by the ITA, while he and junior K.C. Corkery, the defending NCAA doubles champs, are ranked second in the nation in doubles.
Men's volleyball
Eighth-ranked Stanford (1-2) opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Friday with a home match against No. 12 USC at 7 p.m. in Burnham Pavilion.
Fifth-year senior Kevin Hansen needs 39 assists to become the fourth player in Stanford history to record at least 4,000 assists. Hansen averages 13.08 assists per game, with a career mark of 13.12.
Softball
Stanford grad Dana Sorensen will join former Stanford star Jessica Mendoza and current Cardinal shortstop Lauren Lappin on the United States softball team which will compete at the Pacific Rim Sports Summit in Seattle in June.
Sorensen was chosen after a three-day tryout camp in Chula Vista. Mendoza and Lappin are among the 12 athletes who played with the national team over the summer and won the gold medal at the Athens Olympics.
General
Stanford was awarded the Pac-10 Excellence in Athletics Cup by the Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics in Texas recently.
The first annual Excellence in Athletics Cup program recognizes excellence in intercollegiate athletics on the basis of several criteria. The LSIA calculates and awards points based on collegiate success, gender and racial equity, and operating efficiency among other criteria.
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