Washburn Rural's Brooklyn DeLeye named Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year

Staff Reports
·2 min read

Washburn Rural junior Brooklyn DeLeye was named the Gatorade Kansas Volleyball Player of the Year this week.

The award for DeLeye 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" according to the news release.

DeLeye, a Kentucky volleyball commit, now becomes a finalist for the Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award that will be announced this month.

This year DeLeye helped lead Washburn Rural to the state semifinals and a 41-2 record with 586 kills, 259 digs, 133 aces, 38 assists and 26 blocks with a .563 kill percentage and a .438 hitting percentage.

The 586 kills gave her 1,633 for her career, a school record, with another year to add to that total.

DeLeye earlier was named the 6A player of the year in the state and is a three-time First-Team All-State selection.

“Brooklyn DeLeye is the best all-around player in the state, hands down,” said Nancy Dorsey, head coach of St. James Academy in the press release. “Playing their team is like playing a game of keep-away from Brooklyn.”

Off the court, she works in the school's coffee shop, is the secretary of the school’s National Technical Honor Society and volunteers locally as a youth volleyball and basketball coach.

DeLeye has a weighted 4.18 GPA in the classroom.

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.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Washburn Rural's Brooklyn DeLeye is Gatorade volleyball player of year