CHICAGO (December 14, 2011) — In its 27th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, today announced Jenna Ellis of Century High School as its 2011-12 Gatorade Idaho Volleyball Player of the Year. Ellis is the second Gatorade Idaho Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Century High School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Ellis as Idaho’s best high school volleyball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award announced in December, Ellis joins an elite alumni association of past state volleyball award winners, including USA Volleyball players Kim Glass (2001-02, Horseshoe HS, Penn.), Kim Willoughby (1998-99, 1999-00, Assumption HS, La.) and Ogonna Nnamani (1999-00, University HS, Ill).
The 5-foot-8 senior outside hitter led the Diamondbacks to a 36-4 record and a second consecutive Class 4A state championship this past season. Also the Player of the Year as named by the Idaho State Journal, Ellis amassed 454 kills, 439 digs, 65 service aces and 18 blocks while recording a .408 hitting percentage and .546 kill percentage. The two-time Class 4A Player of the Year, Ellis totaled 19 kills, 19 digs, six service aces and three blocks in a 3-1 Class 4A state title clincher against Skyview. She led the Intermountain Volleyball Association to a gold medal at the 2009 USA Volleyball High Performance Girls’ International Youth Championships.
Ellis has maintained a 4.00 weighted GPA in the classroom and serves on her school’s student council. A member of the National Honor Society and Century’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter, she has also donated her time locally as a youth volleyball instructor.
“She is a fantastic player who executes all the skills exceptionally well,” said Kevin Murphy, head coach of rival Skyview High. “Ellis willed her team to a state title with her skills and leadership. What a competitor! We played in tournaments throughout much of the state this year, and Ellis was by far the toughest player we went up against.”
Ellis has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball on scholarship at the University of Idaho beginning in the fall of 2012.
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.
Ellis joins recent Gatorade Idaho Volleyball Players of the Year Megan Sorenson (2010-11, Rocky Mountain High School), Morgan Odale (2009-10, Eagle) and Morgan Odale (2008-09, Eagle) among the state’s list of former award winners.
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