Foluke Akinradewo
Encyclopedia
Foluke Atinuke Akinradewo (born October 5, 1987) is a member of the U.S. national volleyball team. She played college women'svolleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

 at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

. She was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008. From February to July 2008, she trained with the U.S. national team
United States women's national volleyball team
The United States women's national volleyball team represents the United States of America in international volleyball competitions and friendly games, and is governed by USA Volleyball.-Current Squad:...

 and was an alternate on the 2008 Olympic team.

Playing with her national team, Akinradewo won the gold medal and the MVP award at the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix.

High school and personal life

Akinradewo was born in London, Ontario, Canada, to Ayoola and Comfort Akinradewo. She holds a tri-citizenship with Canada, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and used to audition for commercials when she was little. Her favorite holiday is Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

, her favorite subject is science, her favorite books are the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

 series, her favorite TV show is LOST
Lost
-In cinema or television:*Lost , an ABC drama about people who become stranded on a mysterious island*Lost , a short-lived reality television program*Lost , an American thriller starring Dean Cain...

and her favorite music artists is John Mayer
John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer is an American pop rock and blues rock musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and music producer. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, he attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. He moved to Atlanta in 1997, where he refined his...

, Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...

, The Fray
The Fray
-Literature:*Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People*Fray , a comic book series by Joss Whedon**Melaka Fray, titular character of the comic book series-Music:*"Fray", a song from the album 14 Shades of Grey by Staind...

, and Kalai.

Akinradewo attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...

, where she was a three year letter winner in volleyball and was also on the basketball and track & field teams. She was an All-American selection in 2003 and 2004 and an all-state selection in 2002, 2003 and 2004. She was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Volleyball Player of the Year in 2005. In addition to volleyball, she was an all-state selection in basketball and was a four-time Florida State Champion in track.

Stanford

Akinradewo majored in human biology at Stanford University.

As a freshman in 2005, she was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and the American Volleyball Coaches Association
American Volleyball Coaches Association
The American Volleyball Coaches Association is an organization of nearly 5,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association....

 (AVCA) Pacific Region Freshman of the Year. She was named an AVCA Second Team All-American and led the squad in hitting percentage (.397), a mark which ranked third in the Pac-10, 13th in the nation and third for a single-season in school history. In 2006, she was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to an NCAA Division I runner-up finish to Nebraska. For the year, she was named a First Team All-American by the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine.

In 2007, Akinradewo was named the AVCA National Player of the Year and was the Honda Award winner for volleyball. She broke the Pac-10 and Stanford single season hitting percentage record by more than 50 points, as she averaged .499 percentage, a mark that was first in the nation and second since rally-scoring was introduced in 2001. She was named to the Final Four All-Tournament Team as she led Stanford to their second consecutive Division I national runner-up finish to Penn State. As a senior in 2008, Akinradewo repeated as the Pac-10 Player of the Year and got her third consecutive Honda Award nomination. She repeated as a First Team All-American and led Stanford to their third consecutive NCAA title match.

International Career

Akinradewo joined Toyota Auto Body Queenseis
Toyota Auto Body Queenseis
Toyota Auto Body Queenseis is a women's volleyball team based in Kariya city, Aichi, Japan. It plays in V.Premier League. The club was founded in 1951.The owner of the team is Toyota Auto Body....

 in October 2010 http://www.toyota-body.co.jp/queenseis/foluke.htmlhttp://www.vleague.or.jp/team_player_detail/id=35399. In 2010–11 V.Premier League
V.League (Japan)
The V.Premier League is the top-level volleyball league for both men and women in Japan. The league started in 1994.The competitions are organized by the Japan Volleyball Association....

, Akinradewo was named Spike award http://www.vleague.or.jp/topics_detail14/id=6292.

Individuals

  • 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix "Most Valuable Player"
  • 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best Blocker"
  • 2011 2010–11 V.Premier League
    V.League (Japan)
    The V.Premier League is the top-level volleyball league for both men and women in Japan. The league started in 1994.The competitions are organized by the Japan Volleyball Association....

     – Spike award

College

  • Four-time AVCA All-American (2005, second team; 2006–08, first team)
  • Three-time Volleyball Magazine first team All-American (2006–08)
  • Four-time All-Pac-10 team (2005–08)
  • Two-time NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team (2006, 2007)
  • 2008 – Volleyball Magazine National co-Player of the Year
  • 2008 – Honda Award nominee
  • 2008 – Pac-10 Player of the Year
  • 2007 – AVCA National Player of the Year
  • 2007 – Pac-10 Player of the Year
  • 2007 – Honda Award winner for volleyball
  • 2007 – NCAA Stanford Regional MVP
  • 2007 – Pac-10 Player of the Week (Oct. 1)
  • 2006 – Honda Award nominee
  • 2005 – AVCA Pacific Region Freshman of the Year
  • 2005 – Pac-10 Freshman of the Year

Sources


External links

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