Kenzie Foley, a senior outside hitter from St. Cloud State University, was named the DII Honda Athlete of the Year finalist for Volleyball as announced today by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.
Foley is now designated one of 11 finalists for the prestigious DII Honda Athlete of the Year. This will be voted on at the end of the academic year by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in its 48th year.
“I am extremely honored to be one of the eleven finalists for the Honda DII Athlete of the Year Award for it is the most prestigious honor in all of women’s athletics,” said Foley. “This award is a testament to the work put in by not only myself, but also my teammates and coaches both past and present. Without certain people or experiences in my life, none of this would be possible and I can’t express how thankful I am.”
Foley, a senior from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, was most recently named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) DII National Player of the Year and earned D2CCA Ron Lenz National Player of the Year honors. It is the first time in program history, a St. Cloud State volleyball student-athlete has been named the national player of the year. The outside hitter was also named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Player of the Year and is a three-time NSIC First Team honoree.
A three-time AVCA All-American overall, she earned First Team honors for the second time in her career this season after leading the NCAA and NSIC in kills per set (5.00) and ranked second nationally in points per set (5.51) and fourth nationally in total kills (545).
This season, she surpassed 1,000 career kills becoming the fastest player in program history to eclipse the mark and just the 13th player in school history to do so. She also garnered over 1,000 career digs becoming just the fifth player in program history to reach both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
For her career, she ranks first in program history in kill percentage (.444) and individual 20+ kill games (24) and second in the school record books in season kills (545), career double-doubles (59) and career individual double-digit kill matches (84).
“Kenzie is a remarkable athlete that loves the game of volleyball,” stated head coach Chad Braegelmann. “Her intensity and desire to win and compete are evident every time she steps on the floor. She has been a fantastic ambassador for our sport in Central Minnesota and is a great role model for girls that look up to her and strive to play high level volleyball down the road. We are very proud of what she has accomplished both individually and as a team and we are honored that she is a finalist for this prestigious award!”
All Honda Sports nominees from DII and DIII become a finalist for the prestigious 2024 Honda Athlete of the Year in their respective divisions, presented in a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2024, at 7 PM ET, from its new home in New York City.