Haley Templeton Named Gatorade Georgia POTY
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami signee Haley Templeton was named the 2013-14 Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year.
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. She is the first Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Chattahoochee High School.
“We are excited for Haley,” Miami head coach Jose “Keno”Gandara said. “She has worked hard and developed into one of the top setters in her class. We are thrilled that Haley is a Miami Hurricane.”
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.
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 2013-14 Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year award is the latest honor Templeton has received this year. In November, she was selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as a member of the eighth annual Under Armour Girls High School All-America Teams.
One of four setters to earn first team honors, Templeton was selected as one of the top 24 players in the country and will be invited to play in the Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match & Skills Competition. The event will be held at Key Arena on December 20th in Seattle, Wash., in conjunction with the 2013 AVCA Annual Convention. A complete list of the Under Armour All-Americans can be found here.
Templeton signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball on scholarship at the University of Miami. She will join fellow signees Sylvia Hernandez, Brooke McDermott and Sakile Simmons in Coral Gables beginning in the fall of 2014.
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