CHICAGO (December 12, 2013) — In its 29th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, has announced Haley Templeton of Chattahoochee High School as its 2013-14 Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year. Templeton is the first Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Chattahoochee 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 field, distinguishes Templeton as Georgia’s best high school volleyball player. Templeton joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, 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 6-foot-1 senior setter amassed 1,271 assists, 541 digs, 436 kills, 93 service aces and 59 blocks this past season, leading the Cougars (48-10) to the Class AAAAAA state semifinals. An Under Armour First Team All-American as named by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, Templeton owned a .435 hitting percentage and .528 kill percentage. The Class AAAAAA Co-Player of the Year as named by the Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association, she twice earned All-American honors for the A5 Volleyball Club at the AAU Girls’ Junior National Volleyball Championships.
Templeton has maintained a 3.68 GPA in the classroom and served on her school’s student council. In addition to donating her time as a youth volleyball instructor, she has volunteered locally at a nature center, as part of river cleanup efforts and at an annual coat and food drive for the needy.
“I have seen her become a dominant, well-rounded asset both offensively and defensively,” said Todd Kearney, head coach of rival Centennial High. “She is a player that sees the court and knows where to set the ball to give her team an edge against their opponents. She is confident under pressure, and her ability to lead her team was a great asset. Most of my players know the skill Haley brings to the court and respect her abilities. She has set many records at Chattahoochee and will be an asset to the college she attends.”
Templeton has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball on scholarship at the University of Miami beginning in the fall of 2014.
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 the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, 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.
Templeton joins recent Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Players of the Year Teegan Van Gunst (2012-2013, Whitewater High School), Mary Hannah Arrington (2011-12, Pope High School), Kelly Murphy (2010-11, Walton High School), Mary Hoey (2009-10, Pope), Monique Mead (2008-09, Pope) and Betsy Smith (2007-08, Wesleyan School) among the state’s list of former award winners.
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