Viliunas now a finalist for national player of the year :::
LTHS senior Alexis Viliunas was named the 2011-2012 Gatorade Illinois Volleyball Player of the Year. She is the first volleyball award winner to be chosen from LTHS.
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 Viliunas as Illinois’ best high school volleyball player. She is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award announced in December.
The 6-foot-1 setter/outside hitter led LT (30-9) to the Class 4A quarterfinals this past season. She recorded 644 assists, 320 kills, 300 digs, 54 service aces and 43 blocks, while posting a kill percentage of .499. The 2011 Chicago Tribune Volleyball Player of the Year and a 2011-12 American Volleyball Coaches Association Under Armour Second Team All-American, Viliunas set a school record for career assists with 2,202.
Viliunas has maintained a 4.44 weighted GPA in the classroom. A member of the National Honor Society, she has volunteered locally on behalf of the J. Kyle Braid Leadership Foundation and Project Linus, a non-profit organization that provides blankets for needy children.
“Alexis leads not only with her skill but also with her poise and confidence,” said LT Varsity Coach Joann Pyritz. “She is knowledgeable about the game and highly skilled, but more importantly she brings out the best in her teammates.”
Viliunas has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball on scholarship at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign beginning in the fall of 2012.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program 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 football, girls
volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer,
baseball, softball and boys and girls track & field.
http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/player-of-the-year/post/_/id/3819/illinois-volleyball-poy-alexis-viliunas