OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - For their work on and off the court, Ball State setter Amber Seaman and Eastern Michigan middle blocker/right side Cassie Haut have been named two of 30 candidates for the 2019 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate volleyball.
The reigning MAC Setter of the Year, Amber Seaman has established herself as one of the top setters in program history. She currently ranks fifth on Ball State's career charts with 3,647 assists and is ninth all-time with 122 aces. One of only three players to hand out 3,000 career assists and serve up 100 career aces in a Ball State uniform, Seaman currently ranks sixth in the MAC with an 8.97 assists-per-set average this season.
Seaman joined the Ball State women's volleyball program for the 2016 spring semester after completing her course work at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School a semester early. She took over the starting setter role as a freshman in the fall of 2016 and has been the team's floor captain for each of her four seasons.
Her time at Ball State has also been filled with numerous community service projects, including working with the Ball State's Dance Marathon since 2016 and volunteering at A Better Way since 2017. She has also volunteered at the Muncie Animal Shelter and has been involved in various community service projects for Ball State Athletics, including numerous events for the Cardinal Kids Club.
A psychological science major with a 3.918 grade-point average, Seaman is a two-time MAC Women's Volleyball Distinguished Scholar Athlete (2017 and 2018) and a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree (2017 and 2018). She has earned recognition on the dean's list (3.5 GPA or higher) for seven of the eight semesters she has been enrolled at Ball State.
Haut, a redshirt senior, has excelled in all four areas during her time at EMU. In the classroom, Haut holds a 3.25 grade point average in the challenging major of Exercise science. She has earned Academic All-Mid-American Conference honors twice, and was named the MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week after her outstanding performance at the 2018 MAC Tournament.
More impressive is her classroom performance when considering the personal adversity Haut has overcome as a collegiate volleyball player. Just weeks after tearing her ACL and realizing she would miss an entire season of play, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The two were hospitalized at the same time, one fighting to get back on the court, the other fighting for her life. A mother-daughter success story to be admired, both defeated their respective challenge. Haut is now one of the best players in the MAC, and her mother is fully-healthy.
Despite every reason to focus on herself, Haut has also remained an active member of the community. She and her teammates have hosted numerous free clinics for children in the Ypsilanti community, as well as overseas, during the team's foreign tour to Costa Rica, in 2018. Haut has also been active in the annual Night to Shine event, hosted locally in Ann Arbor by 242 Community Church.
On the court, Haut has continually proven to be one of the league's best. As a redshirt junior, she earned First Team All-MAC honors for her regular season play, and was named the 2018 MAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player. A season after leading the conference in attack percentage (.376 in 2018), Haut is off to a great start in 2019, as she surpassed the 1,000-career kill mark against McNeese State, Sept. 7.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
For more information on all the candidates, visit
seniorCLASSaward.com
Student-athlete write ups courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
