A&M?s Lowak Named to SEC Volleyball Community Service Team
Dec 03, 2014 | Volleyball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Texas A&M junior outside hitter Angela Lowak has been named to the SEC Volleyball Community Service Team, the Southeastern Conference announced today. It is the second consecutive year the New Braunfels, Texas, native has been named to the team, which looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts.
The SEC sponsors Community Service Teams for all 21 league sponsored sports. The 11th annual women's volleyball Community Service Team follows:
Katherine White, Senior, Middle Blocker, Alabama
White has participated in the Halloween Extravaganza over the past four seasons, which allows children in the Tuscaloosa community to interact with student-athletes in multiple Halloween-themed games and activities. In 2014, she volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in nearby Northport, Ala., building affordable housing for families in need. White has also participated in “Just For You Day” at the DCH Manderson Cancer Center. There, she celebrated with cancer survivors and their families, listened to their stories of survival and provided words of encouragement in a festive county fair-like atmosphere. White has appeared in over 100 matches during her time at Alabama and was named to the 2013 Hampton Inn Bama Bash All-Tournament Team and the Black Knights Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Ana Sofia Jusino, Redshirt Sophomore, Middle Blocker, Arkansas
Jusino is active in the Razorbacks' outreach efforts to local elementary schools with programs like Book Hogs, Sweat Hogs and Razorback for a Day. Her service extends to the Northwest Arkansas community with involvement in Arkansas' canned food drive campaign, Lift Up America and Feed Our Starving Children. Jusino has also joined other Razorback student-athletes in visits to the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter and involvement in a children's fun run event. She is a member of Arkansas' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and serves as the Razorbacks' APPLE (Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education) Conference Chair. On the court, Jusino is second on the team and 12th in the SEC with a .353 hitting percentage this season with seven or more kills in 10 matches. She has also established career highs of 12 kills and 10 blocks this season.
Stephanie Campbell, Sophomore, Middle Blocker, Auburn
Campbell has participated in Backpack Stuffing parties for the End Child Hunger Initiative. She has volunteered last summer at Auburn University's Swine Center as a part of a research project dedicated to studying genetic similarities between pigs and humans. An Academic Top Tiger, Campbell was named to the 2013 SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Holly Pole, Senior, Libero, Florida
Pole has not only been a veteran leader on the court for the Orange and Blue, but has led the Gators in community service hours this fall through a number of different volunteer activities in the community. She has spent time at Girl's Place, Inc., a 'place' in the Gainesville community for girls to grow, play sports, be challenged and learn life skills -- as Pole and the Gators took part in a sports clinic prior to the start of the season. On multiple occasions, Pole has volunteered at UF Health/Shands Hospital in Gainesville with Caleb's Pitch Syringe Art, where she spent time with pediatric patients filling medicine syringes with paint to decorate canvases in an effort to help create a memento of a positive experience in the hospital for young children through art. Pole additionally volunteered at Baby Gator Field Day, spent time at Bread of the Mighty Food Bank and took a trip to Duval Elementary School in Gainesville to help tutor students. Under Florida head coach Mary Wise -- who is very actively involved in the Gainesville community -- Pole and the Gators also take an annual Thanksgiving trip to UF Health to spread cheer around the holiday to wrap up the regular season before NCAA Tournament play. She is the third person in 20 years to be approved to double major with accounting. A walk-on defensive specialist who took on starting libero duties her senior season at Florida, Pole is a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient.
Gaby Smiley, Senior, Libero, Georgia
Smiley has worked with PBJ Athens and Our Daily Bread to serve food to the less fortunate. She has also worked with Special Olympics for the annual prom hosted by Georgia SAAC members with St. Vincent De Paul Society by helping package clothes and organize food into bind that were then taken to families and organizations that helped families that were in need. Smiley helped organize a Relay for Life event that raised money and awareness for the American Cancer Society, and volunteered to coach kids and run a camp for kids who wanted to play volleyball as part of the Northview Volleyball Camp. She worked with the Children's Restoration Network by spending time shopping for items on the Christmas lists of children in need, wrapping the gifts and deliver the gifts to the families on Christmas. Smiley also volunteered with Meals on Wheels by delivering meals to government-funded homes around Athens for families and individuals who do not have the money for food or are unable to cook for themselves. She helped cook and package meals for Campus Kitchen that were sent to local Athens families who do not have the money for food and served food to those in need at the Atlanta Homeless Shelter. Smiley volunteered with NEDA Walk, an organization that walks to raise awareness for eating disorders, by cheering on and encouraging walkers throughout the event. She works with local elementary schools to talk to children about the importance of physical activity and staying healthy. Smiley volunteered for Home Runs for Hometown Rivals events, which benefits the Athens Clarke County Special Olympics, by being paired with a Special Olympic Athlete and helping the compete during the game, along with the UGA volleyball team at the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and at a local elementary school by walking kids to class after their parents dropped them off to help start their day on a good note. Inducted into UGA's Student-Athlete Leadership Academy (L.E.A.D.) this year, Smiley was named to the 2013 SEC Volleyball Community Service Team and is the Georgia volleyball SAAC rep.
Kelsey Wolf, Redshirt Sophomore, Defensive Specialist, Kentucky
Wolf has played with children at the UK Children's Hospital and read books to children as part of the FCEA Read Across America event. She has spent time with residents at Hope Lodge, and was a volunteer for the YMCA Healthy Kids Day and the Back Pack Program. Wolf also volunteered and participated in the Cardinal Hill “Fun Day” event. She helped with the UK Children's Hospital Blanket Project and talked with underprivileged kids in Lexington outreach program about student-athlete life and commitment. Wolf served as a volunteer at a middle school volleyball clinic and at the YMCA Big Brown Tractor Pull. She is a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team and a 2013 All-SEC Academic Team.
Katie Lindelow, Junior, Outside Hitter, LSU
Lindelow has earned close to 50 hours of community service work with various programs. She is a part of the Big Buddy program that pairs up student-athletes with kids from local schools, as the groups will interact with each other both away and on campus. Lindelow has spent over 40 hours assisting with the program, going with various groups to the school multiple times. She also assisted with the move-in day initiative that helps move in new freshman to their dorms on campus. Lindelow participated in the Be The Match program that helps find bone marrow donors, while being active in the volleyball team's kids clinic and athletic department's annual Halloween BOO-zar that welcomed over 700 kids and their parents to the PMAC for a safe environment for trick or treating. She is the current president of the LSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, overseeing all matters pertaining to LSU more than 500 intercollegiate participants. Lindelow was named the Shaquille O'Neal Life Skills Student-Athlete of the Month for September, which recognizes one student-athlete for their volunteerism and commitment to the community.
Rachael Weathersby, Senior, Defensive Specialist, Ole Miss
In the past, Weathersby has coached sand volleyball clinics for elementary school kids, coached at FCA volleyball camps and was a volleyball coach at a Southern California foster child sports fair. Locally, she participates in More than a Meal, Adopt a Basket, Reading with the Rebels, Books and Bears, SAAC Trunk or Treat, Operation Christmas Child, Community Kids (Community Church) and Serve the Server (through Community Church). Weathersby is a member of Ole Miss' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Kelly Costeira, Freshman, Defensive Specialist, Mississippi State
This past spring, Costeira was a leader in getting the volleyball team to create a group to participate in the school service function called the Big Event, which send groups to places in the community that need assistance. She encouraged some of her teammates to join her in attending a fundraising dinner for Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital. Costeira also volunteered with the team to clean up areas after the tornadoes and at Salvation Army store in Starkville. While at home during her spring break and summer, she volunteered at the St. Augustine Public Montessori School. During the fall semester, Costeira went to a local elementary school to help with morning drop-off and organized a team donation of canned food to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee's canned food drive. She is a member of NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Emily Wilson, Senior, Outside Hitter, Missouri
Wilson has been very active in the community this year and throughout her career at Missouri. Her community service projects include: participating in the Missouri volleyball elementary youth leagues as she taught before-school volleyball classes to local elementary-age children once a week for two months; participating in a free youth clinic to teach volleyball to young children; and participating in a Columbia Mall Meet-and-Greet in conjunction with MU Children's Hospital. Wilson continually visited local retirement communities, such as Boone Landing and Lenoir Retirement Homes, and played with children at Going Bonkers, a local business in Columbia. She helped throw a beach party for local children at Wilson's Pool and gave children free volleyball lessons at the pool in addition to working with the local area Girl Scouts program.
Megan Kirkland, Sophomore, Defensive Specialist, South Carolina
During her time at South Carolina, Kirkland had prepared and served breakfast at Transitions, a homeless recovery center, and participated in several activities at Christopher Towers, a senior housing center. She has also aided in the efforts at the local Ronald McDonald House and Habitat for Humanity.
Angela Lowak, Junior, Outside Hitter, Texas A&M
Lowak utilizes her membership in several service organizations as a platform to volunteer at an array of service projects that have benefitted communities on both a local and national scale, as well as at the international level. The business honors major has volunteered for several events, including the Aggie Residence Hall Move-In Day, where she welcomed and assisted new and returning Aggies move into their dorms. The volleyball team representative on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, Lowak volunteers at Film on the Field, a SAAC-sponsored annual event held to unify the student-athletes with the student body and members of the community and also assisted at Twin City coat drive. She is also a volunteer for the Brazos Valley Food Bank, where she helped sort items and pack family boxes. As a member of Pi Beta Phi, Lowak is active in the sorority's philanthropic endeavors for literacy, visiting the Barbara Bush Parent Center, where she assists local citizens become more proficient in English. She also helps organize and also coaches a team at the sorority's annual “Dodge The Arrow,” dodge ball tournament, which raises funds to provide books to children in need. Lowak works with First Book, where she reads to students at a local elementary school once a week. A member of FCA, Lowak and her colleagues interact with local elementary school children during their physical education classes, teaching them the importance of being physically active and setting an example for good sportsmanship and team work. She was also a group leader at FCA Weekend of Champions, a retreat for middle school students, and taught students how to incorporate Christ into sport. During the Greek Summit/Campus Crusades, she met with Greeks from universities across the country to grow spiritually and learn how to be spiritual leaders in the Greek community. Lowak has spent time cleaning roads and picking up litter in Breckenridge, Colo. With Adventures and Missions, she raised her own funds and went on a 12-day trip with to AIDS-stricken Swaziland, where she volunteered at the hospital, helped with playground improvement projects and taught Bible study sessions. Lowak has worked with Aggies BUILD, where assisted in the building of mobile medical units to send to third-world countries, and was a part of the 2014 Global Enterprise Experience, where she collaborated with students from all over the world via web chat to formulate a business plan to better the youth of the world. In November 2014, Lowak was named the National Consortium for Academics and Sports PlayMaker of the Month, a national program that recognizes the academic achievement and community service of student-athletes at NCAS member institutions. A member of the 2013 SEC Community Service Team, she is on the marketing committee for the Aggie Entrepreneurship Society, in which they develop and organize marketing strategies to increase membership and involvement and challenge and refine entrepreneurial aspirations as well as enhance business skill sets. A volleyball team captain, Lowak was a member of the 2013 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll and the 2012 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.
