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Minnesota Golden Gophers senior opposite hitter Stephanie Samedy received a pair of huge honors on Wednesday when she was named a First Team All-American, and the recipient of the Senior CLASS Award for volleyball. Samedy is now a four-time All-American and becomes just the second ever Gopher to win the Senior Class Award.
The Senior CLASS Award is given annually to the most outstanding senior student-athlete in Division I women’s volleyball. The award is chosen by a nationwide vote of Division I women’s volleyball coaches, national volleyball media, and fans. Samedy becomes the second Gopher to win the award after Paige Tapp was honored in 2016.
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. 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: classroom, community, character, and competition.
Samedy was also named First Team All-American for her efforts this season. She becomes just the second ever four-time All-American in program history along with Samantha Seliger-Swenson. Samedy was named First Team All American in 2017, 2018, and this season and was a Second Team honoree in 2019.
Senior Middle Blocker Regan Pittman and freshman outside hitter Taylor Landfair were both named Honorable Mention All-Americans. For Pittman it is her third honor after being named to the second team in 2018 and the first team in 2019. Landfair is the first Gopher freshman to be honored since Adana Rollins in 2018 and Samedy the season before.
The Division I Player of the Year will be announced on Thursday and Samedy is a strong contender to earn the award. If she does win she would be only the second ever Gopher to win the award after Sarah Wilhite won it in 2016.
Congrats to Stephanie on a great season!