Baylor VB’s Pressley Selected Senior CLASS Award Candidate

[Calderone, Max]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – March 1, 2021

VB’s Pressley Selected Senior CLASS Award Candidate
The Cypress, Texas native joins list of 30 candidates for prestigious honor
For more information contact: Max Calderone, 254-265-1639, Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu<mailto:Max_Calderone at Baylor.edu>

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Baylor volleyball’s senior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley was named one of 30 candidates amongst NCAA volleyball student-athletes considered for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award, recognizing excellence both on and off the court.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior 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 platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Pressley, the 2019 AVCA/ESPNW National Player of the Year, is the NCAA’s career leader amongst active players with 1,769 kills, 4.57 kills per set and 4,344 total attacks. She burst onto the collegiate volleyball scene as a freshman in 2017, raising eyebrows with her electric vertical and tenacious attitude. She was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year after leading the conference in points (4.85 per set) and kills (4.37 per set). She helped the Bears to a top-12 national seed for the first time in program history, earning Southwest Region Freshman of the Year honors as well as being named an honorable mention AVCA All-American.

Over her career, Pressley has reached double-digit kill marks in 90 career matches, including 17 of Baylor’s 18 so far in the 2020-21 campaign. She has eclipsed the 30-kill plateau six times in her career, including collecting a school-record 39 kills at Iowa State as a sophomore on Sept. 22, 2018. As a sophomore, she earned her second-straight AVCA Honorable Mention All-America nod after leading BU with 517 kills and averaging 4.70 per set.

Her historic junior season earned her unanimous Big 12 Player of the Year honors as she hit .276 with 546 total kills. She guided the Bears to a share of their first Big 12 title and a spot in the NCAA National Semifinals, as well as the program’s first No. 1 AVCA national ranking and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Pressley was named a 2019 First Team All-American by the AVCA, ESPNW and VolleyballMag.com after leading all Power Five conferences with 5.41 kills per set.

The senior outside hitter is a three-time unanimous All-Big 12 first team selection, 18-time Big 12 Player of the Week honoree (a conference record), and was most recently named the 2020 Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year.

Pressley graduated in December with a degree in health, kinesiology and leisure studies and is currently working towards a master’s degree in sports pedagogy. She is active in the Waco community, serving local youth volleyball clubs as a guest speaker. She has also traveled to Kenya and Mexico as part of mission trips. Recently, Pressley served as a panelist on Baylor Athletics’ National Girls & Women in Sports Day virtual luncheon.

Pressley is the third Baylor selection to the preliminary list, joining Katie Staiger and Shelly Stafford, who both earned second team recognition by being named Top 10 finalists.

The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later this month, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C’s of community, classroom, character and competition.

The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2020-21 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship in April.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor volleyball, follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @BaylorVBall.

-BaylorBears.com-


__________________________________

Max Calderone | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (VB, MTEN, EQ)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-3073 | C: 254-265-1639

[signature_1818870181]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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