Baylor junior Shelly Fanning is the 2018 Big 12 Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, announced by the conference office Tuesday afternoon.
“As a Baylor student-athlete, I am grateful for the overwhelming love and support I have received over the past four years,” Fanning said. “I want to thank my family, my teammates and coaches and the faculty and staff who have poured into assuring I become the best version of myself. I am humbled to accept this award.”
A sport management master’s student from Cypress, Texas, Fanning has a cumulative 3.66 GPA in Baylor’s Department of Educational Leadership. In addition to AVCA All-Region recognition and a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team honor, she earned her second consecutive All-Big 12 and All-Region honors while leading the conference in hitting percentage (.397).
Fanning finished the season with 370 kills and 137 blocks in her junior season, breaking the school record for single-season hitting percentage for the second consecutive year.
She is the first Baylor volleyball recipient. With Fanning’s honor, BU has a total of 19 scholar-athlete award recipients dating back to the award’s inception in 2012.
A recipient is named in each conference-sponsored sport. Every Big 12 institution nominates one individual per sport with the winners selected by a vote of the league head coaches for that sport, who are not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.
Scholar-Athlete of the Year nominees must be a junior or senior (athletic and academic standing), have a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher, participate in at least 20 percent of the team’s scheduled contests and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution.
