ESU's Alli Volkens a finalist for MIAA Ken B. Jones award

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Alli Volkens

EMPORIA, KS (05/31/2011)(readMedia)-- Emporia State Lady Hornet basketball player Alli Volkens of Reinbeck, Iowa, is one of three finalist for the 2010-11 Ken B. Jones Awards as MIAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year. The winner will be named at the MIAA Hall of Fame and Awards Dinner, set for June 9 at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown in Kansas City, Mo. She will be joined by Washburn volleyball player Molly Smith and Central Missouri track athlete Lindsay Lettow.

Volkens was a Daktronics All-American and unanimous first-team All-MIAA selection for the Lady Hornets. She was named South Central Regional Player of the Year after becoming just the fifth player in MIAA history to lead the league in scoring and rebounding. She ended the year ranked second in the nation in rebounding and was the only player to average at least 18.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. She led the Lady Hornets to their ninth straight 20 win season and eighth MIAA Tournament Championship game. Along the way she shattered the conference tournament record for rebounds with 47 and turned in the third highest point total with 74 points. Her 365 rebounds last year ranks second all-time in the MIAA and she is eighth in career rebounds in the conference. As a junior she was named the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight as ESU captured the national championship.

Academically she holds a 3.47 GPA in biology and was a first-team Capital One Academic All-District performer. She was inducted into the ESU Chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society and is a member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and the ESU Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

She has helped out in the greater Emporia community by volunteering at Holiday Resort and Presbyterian Manor Adult Care Facilities, Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together, and Heroes at Home. She has taken an active role in the Lady Hornets Adopt A Family at Christmas to provide presents for a family in need, helped install playground equipment at the Emporia Christian School and built dog houses for the Lyon County Humane Society.

The award, which is in its 18th year, is named in honor of the man who served as the MIAA's first full-time commissioner for 16 years. Jones retired in 1997 and passed away in May 2004. A 13-member panel of athletics directors, senior woman administrators, faculty athletics representatives and sports information directors, selects the finalists.