University Southern California Trojans
Taylor Whittingham Tabbed Senior CLASS Award Candidate
October 13, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
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Oct. 13, 2016
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - USC senior Taylor Whittingham (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Santa Margarita HS) was named as a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award® on Thursday, Oct. 13. The Trojans' captain and starting libero was chosen as one of 30 NCAA women's volleyball student-athletes who excel both on and off the court. She is the Trojans' fourth candidate all-time for the award and the first since All-American libero Natalie Hagglund was a candidate and finalist for the award in 2013.
In order 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. The complete list of candidates follows this release.
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, 27 have grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher, including 14 who maintain above a 3.5. Fifteen are returning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans, and nine are members of teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Outside of academics and athletics, all candidates also have been consistently involved in community service on their campus or in their communities.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will then be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches, and fans, which will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2016 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
Whittingham ranks sixth all-time at USC in career digs (1,483) and is on pace to finish her career in at least third place in the program's record books. Despite her status as a walk-on student-athlete in 2013, Whittingham became the Trojans' starting libero during the 2014 season, led the Pac-12 in digs (4.97 dps), and helped the Women of Troy to an NCAA regional final appearance in 2015 when she lead the league in digs for a second consecutive season (4.70 dps). As a senior, she serves as USC's captain and currently ranks second in the Pac-12 (4.89 dps).
Whittingham was a 2015 Volleyball Magazine All-America Third Team selection and received AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors in 2014. She is a two-time AVCA All-Pacific South Region selection and has two Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention honors under her belt. She is a three-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week winner.
In the community, Whittingham has engaged in service projects at the Los Angeles Children's Hospital, where she and teammates spent a day with patients doing various activities to brighten their days such as painting, drawing and playing games. She has served as a team leader and counselor for USC's annual inner-city outreach program, A Day In Troy, through which she and other student-athletes use their position and status to influence young people to pursue education, college degrees and ultimately their career goals. She also has been an active counselor for the Girl Scouts program in 2014-2015. In the summer of 2016, Whittingham was chosen to the Pac-12 All-Star Team, an elite group of athletes that visited China for competition, touring and to put on free volleyball clinics. She served as an ambassador for the sport of volleyball, the University, her team, and her country.
Off the court, Whittingham is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention selection. She will graduate in May 2017 with a degree in communication from the prestigious USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. She has 3.00 cumulative GPA and will also receive a minor in consumer behavior from the USC Marshall School of Business.
Whittingham is one of three senior student-athletes from the Pac-12 to be considered for the Senior CLASS Award. She is joined by UCLA outside hitter Claire Felix and Stanford middle blocker Inky Ajanaku.
For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com. For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. To purchase season and single-match tickets, please visit USCTrojans.com/tickets today. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
CONTACT
Erik Miner
Phone: (913) 563-5412
eminer@seniorCLASSaward.com
ABOUT THE AWARD
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. The award program is designed exclusively for college seniors who are utilizing their complete athletic eligibility, remaining committed to their university and pursuing the many rewards a senior season can bring. Premier Sports Management manages the award.
USC ALL-TIME SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATES
2011
Kendall Bateman
2012
Katie Fuller
2013
Natalie Hagglund *
2016
Taylor Whittingham
* denotes finalist
