IRVING, Texas (December 14, 2016) – FIU volleyball standout
Tia Clay was named one-of-14 recipients of the Conference USA Spirit of Service Award, as announced by the conference office on Wednesday. The Spirit of Service Award is designed to recognize the community service efforts of the league's student-athletes, based upon significant community service, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport.
Clay was the only Panther to receive the award and one-of-five volleyball players named. A two-time member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tia has completed more than 90 hours of community service during the fall semester, volunteering weekly at Dr. Carlos Finlay Elementary, Metro Life Church and the FIU Student Food Pantry. As FIU's Student-Athlete Leadership Council President, she is actively involved in serving as a Student Government Association liaison. The Sacramento, California native was also recently inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa leadership and service honor society. Clay is a three-year letterwinner for the volleyball team, expecting to graduate in the spring as a junior for Pre-Med Biology.
2016 FALL C-USA SPIRIT OF SERVICE HONOREES:
Martha Thomas, Charlotte, Women's Soccer
Tia Clay, FIU, Volleyball
Greg Joseph, Florida Atlantic, Football
Brandon Lewis-Graham, Louisiana Tech, Men's Cross Country
Will Shaffer, Marshall, Men's Cross Country
Jacqueline Lux, Middle Tennessee, Volleyball
Eric Keena, North Texas, Football
Tyler Compton, Old Dominion, Football
Shelby Livingstone, Rice, Volleyball
Daphney Stanford, Southern Miss, Women's Cross Country
Erik Henze, UAB, Men's Soccer
Cosmas Boit, UTEP, Men's Cross Country
Megan Slan, UTSA, Volleyball
Kaelin Grimes, WKU, Volleyball
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Facebook.com/FIUVolleyball) for all the latest FIU volleyball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit
http://www.fiu.edu/.
