Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year: Alix Klineman

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- In its third decade of honoring the nation's best high school athletes, Gatorade(R) Thirst Quencher, in partnership with RISE Magazine, today announced senior outside hitter Alix Klineman of Mira Costa High School (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) as its 2006-07 Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year.

The award, which recognizes not only athletic performance, but also meeting high standards of academic achievement while demonstrating exemplary personal character on and off the field, distinguishes Klineman as the nation's best high school volleyball player. A national advisory board comprised of sportswriters and sport-specific experts from around the country selected Klineman from the 390,000-plus high school volleyball players nationwide. Klineman is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year Award, to be presented at an awards ceremony the afternoon prior to The ESPY Awards in July.

Touted by prep volleyball experts as one of the most outstanding young talents in recent memory, the 6-foot-5 Klineman carried Mira Costa to a 37-1 record, the nation's No. 1 ranking, and the school's third straight California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state championship. This season, Klineman paced the Mustangs in kills (513) and set school records for service aces (52) and hitting efficiency (.494). In the state championship game against the nation's No. 4 ranked team, Arch Bishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), Klineman led Mira Costa to a three game sweep with 28 kills and only two errors. Her performance earned her state tournament MVP for the second time in her career.

Other accolades for Klineman this season included an all-tournament selection at the prestigious Nike Challenge and tournament MVP of the Durango Fall Classic, where Mira Costa handed defending national champion and No. 2 ranked Assumption High School (Louisville, Ky.) its only losses of the season. A four-year varsity starter who led the Mustangs to a record of 134-10 during her tenure, Klineman is also a two-time CIF and Gatorade State Player of the Year and PrepVolleyball.com's 2006 Senior Player of the Year.

An experienced international player, Klineman led the 2006 U.S. Women's Junior National Team to a gold medal at the NORCECA Continental Women's Junior Championship. She averaged a team-leading 4.88 points and 3.88 kills per game in the tournament and tallied 28 points with 22 kills, five blocks and an ace in a five-game win over the Dominican Republic in the championship match.

Away from the court, Klineman maintains an unweighted 3.94 GPA. She also gives much of her spare time to helping develop young players, working with players individually in private sessions as well as at Mira Costa's annual summer youth camp.

"Alix is the most talented player I've ever seen and has an uncanny work ethic that sets her apart from other players," said Mira Costa head coach DaeLea Aldrich, who retired this season after 25 years and six state titles. "She is also an outstanding young woman who is always willing to make sacrifices to balance her life with school, family and friends.

Klineman will attend NCAA volleyball powerhouse Stanford in the fall, where she will join two-time Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year and AVCA All-American Cynthia Barboza (Woodrow Wilson High School/Long Beach, Calif.). Overall, Klineman will be the sixth Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year to play collegiately at Stanford.

"Without question, Alix is deserving of recognition as the nation's best high school volleyball player based on her statistics on the court and the impact her play had on Mira Costa's success," said Gatorade Senior Vice President of Sports Marketing Tom Fox. "But she is also a shining example to peers and aspiring young players of what a leader and a student-athlete should be. She represents everything we hope for in a Gatorade Player of the Year recipient."

The Gatorade Player of the Year program recognizes one winner in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in football, girls volleyball, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field. The selection process is administered by RISE Magazine, which works with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.

For more on the Gatorade Player of the Year program, including nomination information and lists of past winners and future announcement dates, visit http://www.gatorade.com/playeroftheyear .

    ALL-TIME GATORADE NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR HONOREES

   Year      Name               High School/Location            Status

  2006-07  Alix Klineman     Mira Costa/Manhattan Beach, CA   High School
                                                               Senior

  2005-06  Megan Hodge       Riverside/Durham, NC             Penn State
                                                               Univ.

  2004-05  Cynthia Barboza   Wilson Classical/Long Beach, CA  Stanford Univ.

  2003-04  Cynthia Barboza   Wilson Classical/Long Beach, CA  Stanford Univ.

  2002-03  Kristin Richards  Timpanogos/Orem, UT              Stanford Univ.

  2001-02  Bre Ladd          Canyon Del Oro/Tucson, AZ        Univ. of
                                                               Arizona Grad.

  2000-01  Ogonna Nnamani    University/Normal, IL            U.S. National
                                                               Team

  1999-00  April Ross        Newport Harbor/Newport Beach, CA AVP Pro Beach
                                                               Volleyball

  1998-99  Logan Tom         Highland/Salt Lake City, UT      AVP Pro Beach
                                                               Volleyball

  1997-98  Sara Sandrik      Pelham/Pelham, AL                Stanford Grad.

  1996-97  Denise Boylan     Benet Academy/Lisle, IL          Notre Dame
                                                               Grad.

  1995-96  Kerri Walsh       Archbishop Mitty/San Jose, CA    AVP Pro Beach
                                                               Volleyball