Kennesaw State University Athletics

KENNESAW, Ga. - Kennesaw State assistant volleyball coach Ashley Crenshaw has been awarded a scholarship by the American Volleyball Coaches Association to attend the AVCA Convention and the Minority Coaches Workshop in Tampa, Fla., December 15-19, in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four.

"I'm excited to be given this opportunity," said Crenshaw.  "I have never been to the AVCA Convention or had a chance to see the atmosphere and excitement of the Final Four.  All of this is very new to me."

Crenshaw was part of the coaching staff of a KSU squad that set a program record for wins in 2009 with 17.  The Owls had never had a winning season in the previous three years of existence, and had won only 11 matches total entering this year.  With the leadership of head coach Karen Weatherington and the knowledge of assistants Crenshaw and Jing How, the Lady Owls rewrote every team offensive and defensive record in the program's books.

"Our success this season has been predicated as a result of Ashley's involvement with the program," said Coach Weatherington.  "She will represent our program and Kennesaw State University very well."

Coach Weatherington was quick to point out some of the differences between the AVCA Convention and conventions organized by other coaching bodies.  "She can expect an overwhelming amount of networking and information sharing," Weatherington said.  "Volleyball coaches share a lot more information than most collegiate coaches share.  She'll learn about warm-up drills and practice skills and different elements of the game from other coaches, within reason.  This is an opportunity to expose her to that level of knowledge which will be important to her career for the rest of her life."

"I'm very eagler to learn and take part in all of the informational and educational sessions," Coach Crenshaw said.

Coach Crenshaw is also looking forward to taking part in a youth clinic on Dec. 19 in conjunction with the NCAA/Minority Coaches Committee.  "I think it's important to take time to give back to the community," Coach Crenshaw said.  "I'm looking forward to working with some of the children of the Tampa area that might not get the chance to be exposed to volleyball."

Coach Crenshaw and the rest of the KSU coaching staff will leave Tuesday morning for the AVCA Convention.