Friday, June 20, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore.  –  Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo.), who concluded her collegiate volleyball career at Alaska last fall, has been tabbed as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection for the 2013-14 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

She was one of 446 student-athletes across all three divisions who were nominated by her university and is among 75 NCAA Division II student-athletes who are in consideration for the prestigious laurel.

The Woman of the Year award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

Knight, who served a two-year term as the Nanooks’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president, graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks last month with a bachelor’s of business administration with a concentration in marketing after compiling a solid 3.85 cumulative grade-point average.

In April she was chosen as the 2013-14 Nanook Athletics Advisory Committee Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was named Outstanding Student of the Year for the School of Management at the UAF Student Awards program.

On the court, Knight was a three-year starter and two-year captain for the Nanooks and tallied 653 career kills in her 98 matches played. She also notched 303 digs and 71 total blocks. The outside hitter’s single-match career-highs included 19 kills, a .536 hitting percentage, 13 digs, five blocks and four aces.

She was a three-time GNAC All-Academic  selection and was twice named the team’s Dr. Wood Scholar-Athlete. During her senior season in 2013, she was the second-leading hitter with 241 kills and had 12 double-digit kill outings, including four straight in October through November. Knight also posted an 18-match streak with at least seven kills, raising her season hitting percentage by 129 points during that stretch.

The GNAC chose to advance Knight to represent the conference at the next stage, which will be voted on by the Woman of the Year committee. The committee will narrow the list down to Top 30 honorees (10 from each division) from the conference picks in early September.

The top nine finalists, three from each division, will be announced in September and the 2013-14 NCAA Woman of the Year will be presented in Indianapolis Oct. 19. Knight is the second UAF athlete to win the conference award joining volleyball player Jordyn Montgomery who was selected two years ago.