By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural junior star Brooklyn DeLeye has been named the 2021-2022 Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year.
DeLeye is the second Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Washburn Rural High School in Gatorade's 37th year of honoring Kansas high school athletes.
Washburn Rural junior volleyball star Brooklyn DeLeye has been named the Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year after leading the Junior Blues to a 41-2 record this past fall. [File photo/TSN]
The Gatorade 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 DeLeye as Kansas’ best high school volleyball player.
The 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter compiled 586 kills and 259 digs this past season, leading the 41-2 Junior Blues to 41 straight victories and a fourth-place finish in the Class 6A state tournament.
DeLeye, who has orally committed to Kentucky, also tallied 133 service aces, 38 assists and 26 blocks while posting a .563 kill percentage and a .438 hitting percentage.
The Class 6A Player of the Year, DeLeye is a three-time All-State first-team selection and is ranked as the nation’s No. 29 recruit in the Class of 2023 by PrepVolleyball.com. She concluded her junior year with a school-record for career kills with 1,633.
“Brooklyn DeLeye is the best all-around player in the state, hands down,” said Nancy Dorsey, coach of St. James Academy. “Playing their team is like playing a game of keep-away from Brooklyn.”
Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month, DeLeye joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners, including USA Volleyball players Kayla Banwarth (2006-07, Wahlert High School, Iowa), Alisha Glass (2005-06, Leland Public High School, Mich.), Jordan Larson (2004-05, Logan View High School, Neb.) and Foluke Akinradewo (2004-05, St. Thomas High School, Fla.).
DeLeye works in the Washburn Rural coffee shop and is the secretary of the school’s National Technical Honor Society. She has also volunteered locally as a youth volleyball and basketball coach.
DeLeye has maintained a weighted 4.18 GPA in the classroom.
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 Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and
determine the state winners in each sport.
DeLeye joins recent Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Players of the Year Caroline Bien (2020-21, St. Thomas Aquinas High School), Kendra Wait (2019-20, Gardner Edgerton High School), Audrey Klemp (2018-19, St. James Academy), and Taylor Kuper (2017-18, Olathe Northwest High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.
Gatorade has a long-standing history of serving athlete communities and understands how sports instill valuable lifelong skills on and off the field. Through Gatorade’s “Play it Forward” platform, DeLeye has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national organization of their choosing that helps young athletes realize the benefits of playing sports. DeLeye is also eligible to submit a short video explaining why the organization they chose is deserving of one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants, which will be announced throughout the year.
To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $3.5 million across more than 1,300 organizations.
Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.
