VOTE FOR TAMI
STANFORD, Calif. – Middle blocker Tami Alade was one of 10 NCAA women's volleyball student-athletes selected as a finalist for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award®.
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.
The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 candidates announced earlier in the season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through December 5. Fan votes will then be combined with media and Division I head coaches' votes to determine the winner. The Senior CLASS Award recipient will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
Alade will graduate in the spring with a degree in human biology. A Pac-12 All-Academic selection, Alade would like to pursue a career in medicine working with children. She has participated in the Stanford Immersion in Medicine Series, shadowing Dr. Ronald Cohen in the Neonatal ICU, where she gained valuable clinical experience interacting with patients and their families, engaging in diagnoses and adapting to a medical environment.
"Tami is the epitome of what you would want in a student-athlete," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "She is committed to working hard and being the best she can be, and she inspires and encourages those around her. Her studies are very important to her as well as having an impact in the community."
Alade is the co-president of the community service branch for the Stanford Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). In her role, she oversees the direct planning and implementation of major community service events in the East Palo Alto community. Past years projects include initiatives to promote healthy eating , exercise body image, childhood literacy and learning development. This year, SAAC hopes to extend the university's reach to helping local veterans and expand a passion for service to the greater Stanford athletic community.
Alade was a 2017 AVCA and VolleyballMag.com All-America honorable mention selection. She was also an AVCA All-Pacific North Region honorable mention pick and an All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention honoree as a junior. A 2016 NCAA national champion, Alade should finish her career ranked in the top 5 at Stanford in career hitting percentage (.380).
This season, Alade leads the conference and is second nationally with 1.67 blocks per set. She is also fifth in the Pac-12 with a .362 hitting percentage. The Cardinal (18-1, 10-0 Pac-12) is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA RPI.
Senior CLASS Finalists
Tami Alade, Stanford
Ali Bastianelli, Illinois
Lauren Bruns, Dayton
Santita Ebangwese, Syracuse
Mikaela Foecke, Nebraska
Taryn Kloth, Creighton
Haley Libs, Northern Kentucky
Courtney Pence, Illinois State
Jordyn Poulter, Illinois
Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Minnesota