INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Former University of Delaware volleyball standout Colleen Walsh has been named the 2007-08 Colonial Athletic Association Woman of the Year and now is one of the nominees for the National Award that will be selected by the NCAA next month.

This is the furthest a Blue Hen has advanced in the national competition since former field hockey player Leah Geib was one of the 10 finalists for the 2005 award.

The honor, which is in its 18th year, recognizes outstanding female student-athletes who have excelled academically and athletically in addition to demonstrating strong community service and leadership.

Following her senior year, Walsh cemented her spot as one of the most decorated athletes in Delaware history. During the annual UD Women’s Athletics Awards Banquet last spring, she was named the University’s Outstanding Senior Female Athlete of the Year and garnered three other major honors.

For her success in the classroom, she was awarded the ECAC Medal of Merit, which recognizes the senior female athlete with the highest grade point average. She also earned the Mary Ann Hitchens Award and the Student Services for Athletes Outstanding Contributor honor for her work both on and off the court.

Phenomenally talented, she left her mark on the Delaware volleyball program by rewriting the team’s records book. Walsh holds the career mark for kills with 1,856, while her 3.85 kills-per-game average and 129 consecutive matches played also rank as the best all-time.

Walsh holds two of the top-three spots on both the program’s single-season kills and kills-per-game lists, while she also posted seven of the top-12 single-match kill performances in school history. Her nine aces against Howard as a freshman also stand as the second most ever by a Blue Hen in a single contest.

During her four-year career, Walsh never missed a game, playing in every set of every match. Her 482 consecutive games played is the fourth longest streak in the history of the NCAA.

As a senior, Walsh served as a captain for the second straight year and led the team to its finest season in program history. In 2007, the Blue Hens went 31-5, captured the team’s first CAA title, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. For her efforts, Walsh was named the Conference Player of the Year and earned a spot on the AVCA All-East Region team after leading the league with 564 kills.

Off the court, Walsh received nearly as much attention. The CAA Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior, she was a perennial member of the Academic Honor Roll and a three-time member of the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District team as an economics major.

An active member of the Delaware Christian Athletes, Walsh participated in a mission trip to Trinidad & Tobago as a junior. A volunteer with the Delaware Special Olympics, she also served as the Vice President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

The top-10 nominees in each division for the National Woman of the Year honor will be announced later this month. From that, the final three will be selected before the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics names the winner at an awards dinner in Indianapolis on October 19.