CLEVELAND — The National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) announced its inaugural Scholar-Athlete Team for 2020 last week.
And Irvine Valley standout women's indoor and beach volleyball player Lea Kruse was named as an honorable mention selection.
At its 2019 Convention, the NATYCAA Officers approved an expanded Scholar-Athlete Awards Program, one which recognizes up to nine male and nine female honorees, one from each district in its membership. The district winners not only comprise the Scholar-Athlete team but are finalists for the NATYCAA Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award sponsored by Relation Insurance Solutions.
All remaining nominees received honorable mention recognition.
"NATYCAA is proud to recognize student-athletes who excel in the classroom, on the field, and in the community," said Community College of Rhode Island interim Director of Athletics Kevin Salisbury, who also chairs NATYCAA's Scholar-Athlete Committee. "The NATYCAA Scholar-Athlete program names one male and one female award winner each year. This year, we are excited to expand the program to recognize a male and female from each of NATYCAA's nine Districts as finalists for the NATYCAA Scholar-Athlete Award. The accomplishments of the student-athletes are simply outstanding and we congratulate all of the nominees and finalists."
To be eligible for the award, nominees had to meet the following criteria: minimum 3.6 GPA on a 4.0 scale with a minimum of 36 semester hours or 45 quarter hours with a minimum of 24 semester/36 quarter hours at the nominating institution; participation in a minimum of one complete season of varsity competition at the nominating institution; outstanding athletics success; and outstanding qualities of leadership and citizenship. Spring sport athletes may be considered for nomination the following year.
Inviduals named to the 2020 NATYCAA Scholar-Athlete Team included:
District 1: Dan Torres, Jamestown CC, Kamryn Hammond, Dutchess CC
District 2: Andrew Patrick Catawba Valley CC, Katelyn Kluh, College of the Southern Maryland
District 3: Amy Woodham, Chipola College
District 4: Dane Voss, St. Clair county CC, Frankie Izard, Lake Land College
District 5: Cameron Western, Iowa Lakes CC, Kelly Wiedemann, Missouri State-West Plains
District 6: James Cross, Cedar Valley College, Alexandria Sandlin, Brookhaven College
District 7: Asa McCord, Salt Lake CC
District 8: Alec Jones, Riverside City College, Sophia Cortina, Moorpark College
District 9: Travis Bossio, Grays Harbor College, Olivia Lee, Everett CC
And the honorable mention selections included IVC's two-year star Kruse.
Honorable Mention: Jaedyn Carter, Edison State CC; Jenna Caskey, Jamestown CC; Oliver Diaz, El Camino College; Deanna D'Imperio, Rowan College Burlington County; Vashti Elias-Romero, Riverside City College; Dani Ercole, Delaware County CC; Luch Erhardt, Monroe College; Lida Hanson, College of Dupage; Hannah Heppner, Northeast CC; Jase Jones, Brookhaven College; Hannah Kirisits, Genesee CC; Lea Kruse, Irvine Valley College; Giulia La Longa, Monroe College; Ashlyn MacDonald; Lake Land College; Ben Moxnews, Northeast CC; Karina Ortiz-Munoz, Santa Fe College; Nate Petrov, West Valley College; Mercedes Planavsky, Hudson Valley CC; Sarah Pothast, Edison State CC; Genevieve Printiss, Tallahassee CC; Sheridan Rodriguez, Garden City CC; Savannah Sehenuk, El Camino College; Payton Stauble, West Valley College; Ryleigh Warfel, Parkland College; Breanna Wendland, Iowa Lakes CC; Jackson Wenstrom, Hudson Valley CC; Anarra Williams; Clark State CC; Leyna Wood, Santa Ana College.
Kruse signed to play beach volleyball at the University of Hawaii next school year.
She was a two-year starter and leader at Irvine Valley.
In 2018-19, she was named co-Most Valuable Player of the Orange Empire Conference in both beach and indoor, while also helping lead Irvine Valley to Orange Empire Conference titles during both campaigns.
On the beach in the spring of 2019, Kruse led IVC to an unblemished conference record and a No. 3 state ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) final poll and was named the team of the year as part of the IVC athletic department's 19th Annual Awards.
Irvine Valley ended with a record of 17-8 overall and won an Orange Empire Conference with a mark of 10-0. IVC ended up going 15-1 against community college opponents.
Kruse and teammate Renata Bath (signed to play indoor at UC Riverside) also finished third in the individual pairs portion of the state championship at the Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista.
Kruse, for her part, didn't lose a match in the sand during team dual play against community college opponents on the season, going 16-0 (15-0) with Bath. And only three of those dual team set wins went to three sets.
Overall last season on the beach, including postseason pairs events in conference, regionals and state, Kruse had an impressive record of 25-3 overall (24-3 with Bath). One of those defeats was a forfeit in the semifinals of the So. Cal Regional Pairs event.
Kruse and Bath also picked up several impressive wins against four-year colleges, including beating duos from Nebraska, Grand Canyon, Missouri State, Concordia and Westcliff.
Kruse and the women's beach volleyball team was honored by the AVCA with a Team Academic Award for the 2019 season. The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale.
In the last two years with indoor at Irvine Valley, Kruse has helped Irvine Valley to a combined record of 48-3 and two trips to the state tournament. IVC fell in the semifinals in 2018 and finished as the runner-up to Feather River after a thrilling, five-set match in 2019.
She repeated as co-MVP in the OEC this past fall and also an all-Southern California Region selection in both 2018 and 2019.
Kruse averaged 3.63 kills, 3.70 digs and 0.63 aces per set this past season for Irvine Valley and recorded 21 matches with at least 10 kills, including the final 10 contests of the year.
And her efforts in both indoor and beach volleyball, Kruse was named Irvine Valley's Women's Athlete of the Year as a freshman for the 2018-19 school year.
Her season for the spring 2020 beach season was halted after 10 matches due to the coronavirus pandemic. IVC was ranked No. 2 in the state heading into the season by the AVCA.
About NATYCAA: Now in its 32nd year, NATYCAA is the professional organization of two-year college athletics administrators and membership open to all two-year institutions from throughout the country. NATYCAA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 55th year. For more information on NACDA and the 17 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.
