OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–South Dakota setter Brittany Jessen is one of 30 NCAA^® women's volleyball student-athletes picked as a candidate for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award^® announced Tuesday.
 
Candidates selected for this award are athletes who excel on and off the court. To be eligible for such an award, the athlete must be a NCAA Division I senior and have achievements in four categories: community, classroom, character and competition.
 
CLASS is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School^®, with the award focusing on student-athletes being positive, impactful leaders in their community using their sport as a platform.
 
The list of 30 candidates will be narrowed down to 10 and placed on an official ballot for a nationwide vote for media, coaches and fans to choose an athlete who best shows the required criteria for the Senior CLASS Award^®.  The winner of the award will be announced during the 2017 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
 
2017 Senior CLASS Award^® Volleyball Candidates:

Rhamat Alhassan, Florida	Jaelyn Keene, Illinois State
Haley Barnes, High Point	Simone Lee, Penn State
Kelsey Bittinger, Kent State	Abbie Lehman, Wichita State
Julia Brown, NC State	Sydney LeMay, Western Michigan
Alyssa Cavanaugh, Western Kentucky	Jessica Lucas, Western Kentucky
Alexis Conaway, Iowa State	Merete Lutz, Stanford
Sammy Condon, Oakland	Mary-Kate Marshall, Oregon State
Melanie Crow, Missouri	Ebony Nwanebu, Texas
Lydia Dimke, Creighton	Maddie Palmer, Radford
Ashley Dusek, Kentucky	Kelsie Payne, Kansas
Emily Hiebert, Wichita State	Courtney Schwan, Washington
Kelly Hunter, Nebraska	Katie Staiger, Baylor
Brittany Jessen, South Dakota	Megan Theiller, Fairfield
Lily Johnson, Missouri State	Kori Waelbroeck, IUPUI
Crissy Jones, Washington	Haleigh Washington, Penn State