CHICAGO – LSU signee Cati Leak secured 2011 Gatorade Alabama Volleyball Player of the Year accolades as announced by the Gatorade Company in collaboration with ESPNHS. It marks the second consecutive year that Leak has won the prestigious award.
A 6-2 outside hitter, Leak will join the Tigers as a freshman for the 2012 season.
The Gatorade Company has honored the nation’s best high school athletics for the last 26 years by recognizing not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement along with exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.
Leak led Guntersville High School to its third consecutive Class 4A state championship during the 2011 season. She amassed 896 kills on a scorching .532 hitting percentage. The three-time Class 4A state tournament MVP also tacked on 557 digs, 120 assists, 74 aces and 38 blocks.
Leak recorded 15 kills and 12 digs in a state title game sweep of Alexandria. She also picked up 2011 American Volleyball Coaches Association [AVCA] Under Armour Girls High School All-American Second-Team honors in November.
As a three-sport athlete, Leak has maintained a weighted 3.60 GPA in the classroom. A member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Future Business Leaders of America and National Honor Society’s Vice President, she has volunteered on behalf of the Christmas Coalition and the Soles4Souls footwear charity. Leak also has served as a mentor to area youth basketball and volleyball athletes.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.
The selection process is administered by ESPNHS and the Gatorade high school sports leadership team, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.