COLUMBUS, Ohio – Redshirt senior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku was selected a 2016 Senior CLASS Award® First Team All-Americans, as announced Wednesday.
The winner of the Senior CLASS Award was Minnesota's Paige Tapp. Ajanaku was one of five members of the first team, a group made up of those who best exemplify excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
Ajanaku received her undergraduate degree in human biology last winter and is working towards a master's in biology this fall. She is a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention selection. She started working in a stem cell research lab on campus over the summer and continued to conduct research there this fall. After volleyball, she hopes to pursue a career developing medical devices.
"Inky is an extraordinary student-athlete, a tremendous leader and is very charismatic," said head coach John Dunning. "She has overcome adversity, fighting through a very serious injury last year. She has grown as a teammate and person. She has always been an inspiration to the people around her, including her teammates. She is a wonderful leader on our team and always has been."
Along with her teammates, Ajanaku has participated in several clinics for middle school kids, talking about college, teaching volleyball and motivating students to stay fit and succeed in school. She has volunteered at a homeless shelter by helping landscape and garden to provide fresh produce. The team has continued its relationship with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, visiting several times to brighten sick children's days with game and arts and crafts. Ajanaku has also volunteered at a beach cleanup day in Half Moon Bay, California, and has participated with the Wender Weis Foundation's Children's Champions event to promote fitness for at-risk kids.
During her career, Ajanaku has been named the Volleyball Magazine National Player of the Year in 2014 and a three-time AVCA First Team All-American. She also earned 2012 AVCA All-America honorable mention honors, has been selected an AVCA All-Region pick four times and is a four-time All-Pac-12 Conference honoree. A two-time AVCA National Player of the Week, Ajanaku was recently named the MVP of the NCAA Madison Regional.
This season, Ajanaku leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally with 1.50 blocks per set. Her .410 hitting percentage is second in the Pac-12 and 13th in the nation. She recently moved into fourth place on Stanford's career blocks list with 610, becoming just the fourth player in program history reach the 600-blocks plateau.
To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must be classified as NCAA Division I seniors 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 athletic platforms to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.