Not that this will come as a big surprise, but we need to give her some love! We can breathe a sigh of relief since we put her on the cover of the current issue of The Bootleg Magazine - we didn't want to be responsible for jinxing her!

*Thanks to Stanford Media Relation's Kendall Johnson, please enjoy the following release:

Foluke Akinradewo, a Stanford University junior and second-time Honda Sports Award nominee, has been chosen as the nation's top collegiate female volleyball player.  The honor was based on the results of national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program, now in its 32nd year.

Akinradewo's victory will earn her the 2008 Honda Sports Award, given annually to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports, along with automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.  She was voted over three other nominees, including two players from Penn State University , junior Christa Harmotto and sophomore Megan Hodge, and Asia Kaczor, a senior at the University of Southern California .  All four nominees were selected by the AVCA All-American Selection Committee.

"When I found out I won the award I was in Colorado Springs training with the U.S. National Team, and I felt quite undeserving, considering that there were so many great players all around me," said Akinradewo.  "It's always an honor to be nominated for such a prestigious award. It surprised me last year, and this year as well." She also noted that she's not sure yet if she will pursue a professional volleyball career. But if selected for the U.S. Olympic team, she says: "I'd definitely love to go!"

Foluke is majoring in Human Biology and hopes to attend medical school, specializing in orthopedic surgery. She is also very interested in sports medicine.

A 6'3" junior from Plantation , FL , Akinradewo led her team to its second consecutive Pac-10 Championship and its second straight NCAA title match in 2007. She led the nation in 2007 with a .499 hitting percentage, the second-best single-season mark in NCAA history.  The AVCA National and Pac-10 Player of the Year, she earned her second straight first-team All-America honor and was a member of the Final Four All-Tournament Team. She posted a career-best 26 kills in the team's NCAA Semifinal win. Last season she hit .400 or above in 27 matches and recorded double-figure kills in 31 of 35 matches.  Foluke was a starting player on the U.S. National Team at the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio De Janeiro , Brazil , helping the team to a bronze medal. She was also the starting middle blocker on the USA Junior team that competed in the 2005 World Championships in Turkey and played with the USA Senior team at the 2005 Pan American Cup in the Dominican Republic.   

Akinradewo joins five past Honda Sports Award winners for volleyball from Stanford University .  Past winners include: Kim Oden (1986), Beverly Oden (1991), Kristin Folkl (1998), Logan Tom (2002 and 2003) and Ogonna Nnamani (2005). Nnamani also went on to receive the Honda Broderick Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

Previously announced Honda Sports Award recipients include Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego for cross-country, the University of North Carolina 's Rachel Dawson for field hockey and Texas A&M University 's Ashlee Pistorius for soccer.  Honda Sports Award winners in basketball, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, and track & field will be announced in the coming months. The Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year will be determined by separate balloting involving all NCAA-member institutions and the winner will receive the Honda-Broderick Cup at Columbia University in New York in late June 2008.

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. sponsors the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program.