Sophomore women's indoor and beach volleyball player Lea Kruse and sophomore baseball player Robert Haw were recently selected as the Exchange Club Irvine Valley scholar athletes of the year.
Award winners epitomize achievement in competition and in the classroom, and demonstrate that excellence is possible in all arenas through their dedication and work ethic.
Kruse made her mark at Irvine Valley on the court and in the sand the last two years.
Kruse, who was IVCs' female athlete of the year during the 2018-19 school year, was also recently recoginzed for being an honorable mention selection as part of the The National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) inaugural Scholar-Athlete Team for 2020.
She has been a scholar athlete all four semesters at Irvine Valley and sported a 4.0 grade point average this past spring. Kruse has signed to play beach volleyball at the University of Hawaii.
The 5-10 Kruse will join the Hawaii team in the fall and have three years of eligibility remaining in beach volleyball.
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 (UC Riverside indoor) 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, Bath 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 49-3 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.
She was part of the top pair team at Irvine Valley this past spring with Gabriela Griego before the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Haw has also been a shining light at Irvine Valley both on the field, as a leader and in the classroom. He was also a scholar athlete in all four semesters at Irvine Valley so far.
He was off to a stellar start to the 2020 baseball season before the season was cancelled. Haw and the Lasers had a record of 11-10 overall. He started all 21 games either at shortstop or on the mound.
Haw was batting .329 with a team-high .477 on base percentage. Haw also scored 18 runs and had 12 RBI.
He had nine multi-hit games, including a three-hit performance in Irrvine Valley's wild game against Long Beach City. Haw drove in a season-high three runs in Irvine Valley's 20-15 victory at Mt. San Jacinto on Feb. 15.
On the mound, Haw won two games. He threw 16.2 innings and had a 4.32 ERA. He struck out 14 batters in those 16.2 innings.
As a freshman in 2019, Haw helped the Lasers to a 20-19-1 overall record. IVC just missed the playoffs.
He batted .259 with 38 hits, 33 runs, one home run and 13 RBI. He had nine multi-hit games and drove in a career-high four runs in Irvine Valley's 19-7 win at LA Harbor on Apr. 16, 2019.
